Flotsam Wild
by Brandon Payne
Summary: Tokyo Girls Destruction. It will update whenever the manga updates, so assume editing when that happens.
1. Chapter 1

It is evening somewhere out over the Pacific Ocean. There is a small island that is a part of Japanese territory covered with a series of buildings. All of it is surrounded by a wall like an artificial cliff that the waves wash up against, leaving virtually no room for a shoreline. Whatever shoreline that does exist is nothing more than narrow clusters of rocks sticking up out of the water, and that is only when the tide is low.

This is the Amazon Academy, an all-girl's educational institution that is supposed to teach Japanese girls how to become proper Japanese women. The island is far from the mainland with transportation to and from the island by ship or helicopter, as the helicopter pad and double wharves show, all in the effort to not allow distractions from the outside. That wall also serves as the dormitory as the windows that covers the sides show.

Every day during school, those girls behave as is expected of them: modest, polite, and neat.

Every day after school, those girls behave as is expected of them: violent, hellbent, and ruthless.

That after school behavior is the result of badges, star-shaped pieces of metal that are their only means of getting food, clothing, and even the ability to lock their dorm rooms. Any girl without a badge is little more than a slave, even during school hours, and must ally with girls who do have badges. There are also girls who possess more than one badge because having more than one makes the wearer more important. Nowhere is safe, save for places that can be properly secured.

And it is all under a faculty whose authority only exists during school hours.

The mayhem of the after school battle royale has since ended. The girls without badges, or badgeless, are now cleaning up or taking other badgeless away to the infirmary. They are all under coercion from brigades of girls wearing red berets and armlets, and wielding collapsible billy clubs. These red wearing girls enforce the will of the Student Council, and can best be known as enforcers.

As cleanup is going on, a girl named Burai Sachiko sits atop the wall. Unlike a Japanese person, she is a natural blonde, showing that she might not be full-blooded Japanese. She is a former student of the Academy who not only skipped class but the jail cell that she had been in for the past six months, as the shackles bounding her wrists together with its long chain shows. Her school uniform is disheveled with her blouse hanging open to reveal her brassiere. Other than the miniskirt, the rest of her attire is not a part of the official school uniform: a thick collar; a belt with endless loopholes hanging at her waist; torn stockings; high-heel ankle boots and half-finger gloves.

But the most unusual thing about her is her monstrous strength. Despite her ordinary physique, she had effortlessly kicked her cell door off its hinges to escape and help a girl. Her strength can only be a manifestation of her will, making it unnatural.

She continues to sit while brooding about her dear friend, Towa. A friend who had six months ago stood over her while she herself was chained and lying on the ground before her. Towa had promised to aid her soon. Towa is dead now. This she learned through a girl named Amasu Kumi, Towa's younger sister: the girl who inspired her to break free after having thrown her badge into the cell with her.

Sachiko jumps to another part of the wall as easily as if she were up on the moon, the result of having a strength level that does not need extra muscle mass. She looks toward the helicopter pad with the wharves near it. Those wharves are almost level with the ocean whenever the tide is high. Right now the tide is low, so they are higher up.

Movement down on the wharves catches Sachiko's attention. She sees a person rising up along the edge of one of the wharves, up one of its ladders. It must be one of the students who had been hiding away. But that can't be right because those wharves are only accessible through a door in the side of the wall, which is kept locked. Is she one of the teachers then? A possibility, since they can also become victims after school because of grudges that the students might hold against them. She must be one of the teachers who had sought to hide somewhere.

Sachiko continues watching the mystery teacher struggling up that ladder, wondering who she might be. Once that teacher is high enough, she splays across the wharf and slowly pulls herself up the rest of the way. There is something odd about that teacher. For one thing, she is struggling to get up, almost as if she is extremely tired.

The teacher is now fully upon the wharf, then slowly gets up on her feet. Sachiko watches the woman shamble along like a zombie, all the way up toward the stairs that lead up to the island proper, all the while trailing water, and pauses at those stairs to look up at them. There is a pair of them, with the next part climbing up in the opposite direction of the first from which it sprouts from. It ends at a long walkway with the door at the end.

The teacher starts the arduous journey up the pair of stairs, one step at a time. Sachiko runs along the length of the wall up to its end and continues watching that teacher getting continuously closer to the top. That is when she discovers that something is not right about that woman.

The teacher arrives at the door and tries to open it, only to find it locked. Sachiko drops down and lands near her. Given her extraordinary talent, simply dropping from that height doesn't phase her. The teacher is startled by her sudden presence and Sachiko is able to see who the mystery teacher is.

But she is not a teacher. She was never she to begin with, nor of their own for that matter.

_A foreign man!_ Sachiko thought with bewilderment. _Where did he come from . . . ? Oh yeah, that storm from two days ago! He must've swum a great distance! He's so exhausted now!_

The man is Caucasian with pale skin, blond hair, grey eyes, and appears to have a slender build. He also looks to be in his twenties and his face is very easy on the eyes. If Sachiko were barefooted, her crown would be level with his brow, and she is a tall girl even in her bare feet. Other than that red life preserver he needed to wear, his clothing consists of a blue long-sleeved T-shirt; black cargo pants as there is a pocket on each leg; a black leather belt with endless loopholes like her own; and brown suede shoes.

An Occidental man shipwrecked upon this brutal island! What will happen to him? Will they help him and let him board the next ship or helicopter off the island? Or will they throw him into a cell to rot? Or kill him for that matter?

Be that as it may, the big issue is that steel door. It is always kept locked, save for whenever any ships dock down at the wharves. Usually supply ships, but the next one isn't due until next month.

Sachiko knows that she is going to have to open that door for him. She walks up to him and gently pulls him aside to make room for herself. She shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath and exhales, then another deep breath. But this time opens her eyes wide with her irises as pinpricks.

With a screech, she quickly delivers a thrust kick to the door. It instantly goes flying with a loud bang, followed by a loud ringing crash. The noise might attract their attention.

* * *

"What was that?" One enforcer exclaimed as she stared in the direction of the noise.

"Don't know, but it came from the direction of the wharves," her comrade answered.

They glance back at their two charges.

"Let's just take them with us," the first enforcer said. "Whatever that was may need fixing."

"Come on, you two," the second enforcer commanded as she glares at the hapless pair. Together they run toward the source of the noise.

One of their charges is none other than Amasu Kumi, Towa's younger sister, who came to this madhouse to find out the details of her dear sister's death. The other is Hinata Mineko, a cat-faced girl who ends her sentences with a meow. Kumi is the only innocent here, but Mineko is typical of the other girls as she had drugged Kumi shortly after meeting her then dragged her off somewhere and attempted to steal her badge. Then got injured for her troubles when Burai Sachiko broke out of her cell after being revitalized by Kumi. Unfortunately, Kumi lost her badge to a sadistic teacher named Hamon Suzaku, making her useless to Mineko.

They arrive to the sight of the door to the wharves off its hinges and lying some twenty feet away, buckled in from a huge dent.

"Whoa, what the hell?" The first enforcer exclaimed as she hurries over to it.

"This looks very familiar!" The second enforcer said as she follows close behind.

"Burai-san did that," Kumi noted while staring at the ruined door. "But why would she-"

"Meow! A foreigner!" Mineko suddenly screeched.

The girls gape with shock at a foreign man standing in the doorway, almost a head taller than the tallest girl present, she being one of the enforcers.

"H-He's really big, meow!" Mineko squeaked while clasping Kumi's shoulder to use her as a shield.

"He's also soaking wet!" The first enforcer exclaimed.

"So where did he swim from?" The second enforcer gasped.

"That storm must've had something to do with him being here!" Kumi interjected. "No doubt he's a survivor from a boat that sunk!"

"B-But that storm was two days ago, meow!"

"Th-Then that means he would have been swimming for two days straight!" The first enforcer exclaimed.

"Amazing!" Kumi gasped in awe while putting her hand up to her mouth. "He shouldn't have even been able to climb up that wharf ladder, let alone walk all the way up here!"

"But look how exhausted he is, meow! He looks like he's gonna fall over any second, meow!"

"Burai Sachiko must have noticed him and helped him by kicking the door off," Kumi then said.

"Yes, of course!" The second enforcer exclaimed. "And you would be familiar with that since you were down in the cells that day when she escaped." Her tone was sarcastic.

"Excuse me, sir," Kumi softly called to the foreign man in choppy English. "Are you well enough to talk?"

"Oh, you know English, meow."

The man opens his mouth and takes a deep breath.

"Search . . . this . . . pocket," he proclaimed while pressing his finger into the pocket on his right leg.

He slowly collapses into a heap before them, then lies down. His eyes are now closed. For a moment, the girls stare down at him. Kumi is the first to move, with Mineko kneeling alongside her and the enforcers bending over close to them, and presses her index and middle finger into the man's throat next to his larynx for a pulse.

"H-He just spoke Japanese, meow!" Mineko exclaimed.

"Why would he do so when Amasu-san can understand English?" The first enforcer pondered aloud.

"Maybe it's to show that he can speak our language too?" The second enforcer answered.

"He's only unconscious," Kumi declared, then reaches for his pocket. "I'll check that pocket."

Kumi pulls out an ID and reads it.

"His first name is spelt V-E-I-K-K-O. I think it's pronounced, Vey-ko, as in Reiko. Now his surname is spelt R-Y-Y-N-A-N-E-N, but there's two dots above the letter A . . . Rye . . . Rye-nah-nen, perhaps?"

"That's a weird name," the first enforcer quipped.

"And he's from . . . Finland."

"That's a country in Europe," the second enforcer said.

"Yes, so they speak Finnish, not English."

"Yet he knows Japanese, meow," Mineko said.

"And according to his date of birth, he's thirty years old."

"I'll go get help," the first enforcer said as she straightens, then turns and runs off, leaving her comrade with Kumi and Mineko.

Kumi carefully kneels down on the hard cement, a punishment on bare knees, and lifts the man's head to rest upon them. She next pries one of the man's eyelids open with her thumb to check and see that his eyes are indeed rolled upward, denoting unconsciousness.

"He's really cute," the second enforcer pondered with a grin.

"What's somebody from Finland doing this far from home, meow?" Mineko wondered.

"Maybe he was on an adventure?" Kumi answered rhetorically.

"Some adventure," the second enforcer said dryly. "This island is well out of the way of major trade routes. It's as isolated as you can get."

They hear the squeaking of metallic wheels and look to see the first enforcer finally showing up with two of the badgeless pulling a wheeled stretcher along. They come to a stop near them.

"All right! Get him on the stretcher and to the infirmary, you badgeless!" The second enforcer commanded them.

The stretcher is positioned next to the Finnish man named Veikko Ryynänen and lowered. The badgeless gather around him, two to either side, to place him onto the stretcher.

"Oh, he's really handsome," one girl said with approval.

"His hair is so soft and thick," another said.

At the count of three, they move him onto the stretcher and strap him in. Once it's raised back up, the four girls wheel him along, with Kumi and Mineko at either end.

If they had only looked up, then they might have seen Burai Sachiko watching them from above. She watches them wheel the foreigner away.

As they are taking him to the infirmary, the other badgeless momentarily stop their work to watch; even their enforcers are transfixed by the scene of a foreign man being carried to the infirmary. But only for the moment as they suddenly yell at the girls to continue working.

At the infirmary, the staff and mobile patients gape at the new patient coming into their midst.

". . . A man . . . !"

". . . A foreigner . . . !"

". . . He's soaking wet . . . !"

". . . Did he wash up on the shore . . . ?"

". . . Is he still alive . . . ?"

The stretcher is parked inside a room where he can be treated. A female doctor is there and like the students, they too are in awe over the presence of a foreign man here at the Amazon Academy.

"I will need help in stripping him down and drying him off," the doctor said hesitantly as she unbuckles the belt holding him in place.

"You heard her, badgeless, get to work," the first enforcer said with a leer. "Or are you afraid of getting bitten by his trouser snake?"

This elicits laughter from the second enforcer.

Carefully, they begin taking his clothes off. The first to come off are his life preserver, shirt, shoes, and grey socks. Although he is slender, he is also wiry as his heavy toning shows.

"He's ripped," one of the other badgeless commented.

"He has red nipples," the other badgeless girl said with amusement.

"He's so pale, meow," Mineko noted. "I can see why they refer to themselves as White, meow."

"Get his pants off," the second enforcer stated while smirking.

They finally began to peel them off, showing off his blue briefs, and his prominent bulge. The expression of the girls, both enforcers and badgeless, are frowns with saucer wide eyes and pinprick irises.

"You two," the first enforcer said as she pointed at Kumi and Mineko with her billy club. "Get his underwear off!" Her tone is excited and husky.

Kumi and Mineko gape from the enforcer to the foreign man with utmost shock as their eyes are wide and irises as pinpricks as they frown.

"W-Why us, meow!" Mineko squeaked.

"Why not," the second enforcer smirked. "Besides, Amasu-san used her lap as a pillow for him and you're her friend, enough said. Now do as you're told."

Reluctantly, Kumi and Mineko each stand to either side of the man and take hold of the rim of his underwear.

"On the count of three," Kumi squeaked.

They count to three and quickly tug his underwear down with one quick yank.

The girls immediately shriek, with Mineko shrieking a meow. All of them gape with eyes as wide as saucers and irises like pinpricks. The first enforcer even drops her billy club.

"I-It's true," The second enforcer squealed through her hand over her mouth. "Foreign men really are big down there!"

But the doctor nearby merely tenses an eyebrow and sighs while doing a face palm.

"Get some towels and start drying him off," she proclaimed with annoyance. "Every square centimeter of him."

Once the towels arrive, they begin doing so. But not before they lay a towel upon his groin beforehand. They dry his head, limbs, chest, and stomach. His back and buttocks prove harder as they need to carefully turn him over to do so. The towel had to be manually pinned at his hips to prevent it from falling off.

The last part they are to dry off is what the towel covers. Again the enforcers goad Kumi and Mineko into doing it.

So they carefully . . . dry it.

"Meow! It's getting bigger!" Mineko squealed as she hastily backs away.

_Oh dear God, she's right!_ Kumi thought as her gaping mouth ripples, her face turns blood red with sweat streaming down, causing her intense expression of shock to look even more intense.

That is when the fist enforcer suddenly reaches out and pulls the towel off. This time all the girls screech louder and back away. One of the badgeless even faints.

"Tr-Tr-Tr-Trouser snake!" The first enforcer gasped.

He is next dressed in a gown, much to the relief of the girls. While it is the largest gown the infirmary stocks, it is still a small fit for the man. The fainted girl is revived and reassured that he has been covered.

They take his clothes, checking the pocket once again for his ID. The doctor checks it and writes the information down upon a notepad.

"He understands Japanese," Kumi quickly added.

"Thanks for the info," the doctor replied. "His clothes are to be washed then dried and returned."

"What about his life preserver?" the second enforcer asked the doctor as she holds it up.

"Just store it in a shed somewhere," then turns her attention to the foreign man as she checks his eyes and mouth.

"The patient is only suffering from extreme exhaustion and mild dehydration," the doctor concluded. "Nothing that a bag of IV and a good night's rest can't fix."

Veikko Ryynänen is next wheeled down a hallway past personnel and other patients, who stop to stare at the strange foreign man. He is placed in a simple room and the curtain is pulled around.

And they wait.


	2. Chapter 2

_Veikko Ryynänen (Roo-nah-nen) was aware of floating with the remains of his motorized sailboat in the seemingly endless Pacific Ocean. The wind blew hard enough to cause huge swells that seemed to be as tall as a house to him. The last thing he remembered was the sensation of the sea after his motorized sailboat was torn apart by the squall that had blown up while he was being tossed around inside it._

_For what seemed an eternity he continued to bob around. He wondered if he was going to die out here._

_As the morning progressed, the sun shone through the clouds for a bit, before disappearing behind more cloud cover once again. The wind had dropped considerably so that it was a moderate wind. The swells were much lower now at just a few feet._

_Veikko wondered what to do. Wondered if he would just float here until he got eaten by sharks or a giant squid. He looked around to see if he could see an island. A difficult thing to do when repeatedly bobbing up and down so that the waves obscured his vision. But he saw nothing._

_And with nothing to lose, he began to swim._

_And swim . . ._

_The day dragged ever onward. Minutes seemed like hours. His arms and legs continued moving. Whether he swam against the current or with it, he cannot know. He just kept swimming. But Veikko never thought about it. All he thought about was swimming._

_Swimming until he died._

_The day gradually grew brighter until it leveled off. Afterwards, it eventually grew dimmer. Twilight now graced the horizon as the water grew darker._

_Finally, the night came and all he could see around him was darkness. His limbs began to grow weary and soreness started to creep in. Maybe if he just took a rest._

_No! No rest! Swim! Swim until his limbs fell off! He will not give up! He is a Finn! And being a Finn means having the will to continue!_

_He will swim!_

_The night truly seems eternal. The sky is black, meaning that it must still be cloudy. At least the water was warm, being so near the tropics._

_His limbs began to ache and exhaustion crept in. Time lost all meaning as all he was aware of was water and burning pain. His mind began to drift in and out of consciousness. He hallucinated sometimes. A huge tentacle had shot out of the water toward him, only to disappear upon being startled to reality._

_Still, he kept swimming._

_After he snapped out of a moment from a Great White Shark swallowing him whole, Veikko discovered it was dawn. He swam in his sleep! The pain crashed home as his limbs felt as if encased in lead and seemed to burn enough to boil the ocean around him._

_He noticed something tiny far away. For the first time since he started swimming, he finally stopped. At that instance, his limbs seized up painfully. He focused on that tiny object. Was it a ship! An island! It was still too far away to see details, so he continued swimming. His limbs moved slower this time, yet his resolve was further strengthened. The pain seemed to lessen._

_Onward, he swam. The dawn grew brighter. The sky was still overcast, yet the wind was mild and no rain fell. The waves were small enough not to interfere with his line of vision. It finally headed into daytime and the island still seemed no closer. The soreness and stiffness began to return. Again, he wouldn't quit._

_Like yesterday, the day grew brighter. The object eventually grew larger. Yet he did not stop to take notice. No, not until he was right upon it because he knew that to stop now would mean being unable to swim for quite a while._

_He must keep swimming. His exhaustion increased and again threatened to take away his consciousness. He knew that he would once again fall asleep, and this time he might not wake up for hours and remain stationary for that time._

_Veikko snapped out of his last stupor to finally notice something in front of him. He was now close enough to see that it was an island. A small island. He grimaced from the shock of hot pain that seared through his muscles, causing him to gasp. His limbs suddenly felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds. He started to hyperventilate when he hadn't breathed that hard before then. He knew that if he didn't get to shore soon, he was going to faint. He did a quick look around._

_It was a small island, probably half a mile across, maybe less. High walls adorned with windows seem to surround the island. This meant that the place was occupied. Good! That also meant he was saved! But he first had to get the attention of the occupants by getting onto that island._

_But there was no shoreline, at least none that he could see. There had to be a way onto that island and he began to swim around it. Already, his muscles felt as if they were being torn from his bones with each movement he made. At least he was not going to fall asleep while in pain. Yet his limbs moved with even greater slowness._

_After what seemed like eternity, he rounded a corner and could make out a wharf. This was good because now he could climb up a ladder. Who knows? Maybe somebody might be on that wharf._

_Veikko swam toward that wharf. It very slowly grew closer. He began to wonder if he was ever going to reach it before it got too dark. He could make out the ladders leading up it. Closer and closer he got to one of those ladders._

_He grabbed the cool metal ladder and breathed a huge sigh of relief, then discovered that his throat was raw from thirst. He only became aware of just how thirsty he was. He was so focused on swimming that he had forgotten he was thirsty! This knowledge seemed to sap more of his strength and made his pain and soreness more intense._

_Veikko clasped a rung with both hands and with a deep breath he pulled himself up, then grunted with intense pain and immediately let go as it felt as if his biceps had torn away from his bones. He gasped and grunted as he rubbed his upper arms. He knew he needed to take this nice and easy or risk damaging his muscles._

_Ever so carefully, he lifted a leg and placed it onto the lowest rung, then lifted an arm to clasp a rung just above him. Then repeated it slowly, being certain to keep his limbs in sync to spread the work out between them. Slowly but surely, he climbed up the ladder. His consciousness wavered at times and it seemed as if he might fall back into the ocean. Veikko reached the top and looked over the wharf. Now it got more difficult because there was nothing to grab onto, so he had to crawl across the wharf while using his legs to get him the rest of the way. He did so, slowly, painfully, until he was fully across the warm wooden planking and continued to crawl until he was well away from the ladder._

_Veikko dug deep into himself, summoning forth his will and struggled to his feet. Never had his muscles ached so much and never had he felt so weak. A moment of lightheadedness overcame him and his vision blackened for an instance as lights danced before his eyes. He bent over to clear his head, then slowly looked up once again toward that huge wall covered in windows. He saw a pair of steps leading up from the wharf to a platform, where he could make out a door._

_He began walking toward them; staggered actually, because it seemed to him that his feet were encased in one hundred pound weights._

_He trudged along that wharf and up to those stairs. It seemed such a long distance to him. And he was so sore and tired. He stopped at the base of the first set of stairs and took a moment to stare up them. The steps looked to be as high as hills, and the top as high as a mountain. But he lifted first one leg, then another, and repeated. He reached the last set of stairs and again it looked like it did as the first set did to him. But that didn't deter him._

_Once he got upon the platform, he continued to stagger along and reached that door. It was a steel door. He checked the handle on it to find it locked._

_Veikko was about to wonder what to do next, but was startled by the sudden appearance of somebody dropping down near him. That somebody was a girl with blond hair and wearing a long chain that shackled her wrists together. She was tall and shapely with her white blouse opened to reveal her racy brassiere and full figure. She wore a miniskirt with a belt slung low on her waist full of double eyelets. A collar was around her neck and she also wore stockings with tears in them, along with flashy ankle-length high-heel boots. She would be a pretty girl if her dark eyes had not looked hard. She said nothing but frowned slightly as she too looked him over with bewilderment._

_He tried to speak, but between his intense exhaustion, pain, and thirst, he cannot. The girl suddenly walked up to him and gently pulled him aside, in which he complied. He watched her as she stood there for a moment; she suddenly made a screech as she delivered a thrust kick to it. Veikko gasped at the sight of that door going flying, followed by the ringing crash it made as it bounced along the ground._

_The girl turned to look up at him for a few seconds, then crouched low and jumped. She literally flew up. Veikko craned his neck to see her path of flight. He sneered as he tilted his head about curiously while still staring upward with a bewildered but tired expression. He kept staring upward to see if he could see her, wondering if this isn't a hallucination over that girl's physical prowess._

_He heard the sound of excited talking. There was something familiar about their talking, but his mind was too addled with exhaustion and bewilderment to make any sense of it yet. He staggered through that open doorway and saw four black-haired girls with their backs turned to him as they examined the door that laid twenty feet away. Two of those girls were wearing red berets and the other two were bareheaded. Yet they all wore identical uniforms. One of those bareheaded girls did a double take at him._

"_Nya, gaijin!"_

_Japanese . . . ? He knew Japanese!_

_They talked amongst themselves in an excited manner. With his exhaustion and wavering consciousness, he couldn't keep up with what they were saying._

_One of those girls suddenly spoke to him in a gentle tone. She was a pretty girl with long hair and not wearing the beret and armband either. Her eyes beheld a gentleness in them. He didn't understand English that well, but he thought that she was asking him if he were okay. Japanese on the other hand he is fluent in. The other girl spoke up. He could have sworn she had said nya a number of times._

_Veikko felt his consciousness fading and knew he had to act fast._

"_Search . . . this . . . pocket," he proclaimed in Japanese, pointing at the pocket on his right leg._

* * *

Veikko is now aware of being warm, dry, and well rested as he is nestled between soft linens and a soft mattress. It would have been better if not for his dry throat and full bladder.

He opens his eyes to see a white vinyl curtain surrounding him and his bed. The dimness of the light suggests that it must be early morning. There is distant muffled chatter, meaning a closed door, so he cannot make out what they are saying. He remembers all that had transpired up until he blacked out. He thinks about that blond girl. Was she Japanese too?

He looks down himself to see that he is lying in a bed with white sheets up around him, but his right arm is uncovered with an IV needle protruding from the back of his hand with a tube connected to it that runs from an IV bag next to him. He notices the miniature monitor tucked into a pocket on his left side and is able to see the wire leading from it to his chest underneath the gown, which end in electrodes attached to his skin. He notices the gown he is wearing, then feels around with his left arm that is still covered up to find that he is without underwear and blushes, knowing what it means.

Veikko slowly sits up as he softly groans. He wants to let them know that he is up, but first has to get his bearings. He checks the IV bag next to him to see that it is a simple drip bag on a metal rack. It is not the electronic type. The bag is empty and he decides to remove the tube, but removes only the tube itself instead of the needle head.

He carefully gets up and moves the curtain aside to see that he is in a simple room with a window to one side. He moves the curtain on the other side to see a LED clock mounted on the wall that reads, six twenty, with the dot on AM.

He finally gets up and walks in his bare feet on the cool floor. He notices the closed door over to his room with the window in it. At the moment, he doesn't see anyone passing by. There are two doors along either side of it facing the other.

Veikko goes over to the window to look out. He sees that he is on the third floor and has a view of the Pacific Ocean. On the island itself, he sees various buildings and the wall surrounding this place. There is a clock tower nearby and he can see the hands also reading the same time. He can also see school girls walking around, since they are wearing identical uniforms. He can make out some of them wearing that red beret. He watches girls greet each other with bows, showing their subordination.

That is when he does a double take back at the tower to see a girl standing there. She is too distant to make out her face, but he can see that her hair is like his own. He stares more intently as his irises shrink. It must be that girl. She is looking off to one side when suddenly she stares directly at him. Did she just sense that she was being watched!

_Can she see me! _He thought.

The staring continues for a minute longer before he decides to go empty his bladder. He goes over to the doors facing each other and first opens one by having to slide it open to find that it is a very small shower room, too small to leave anything dry inside. He was bemused by this at first, knowing that the typical Japanese bathroom is larger and consists of a tub, a faucet near it set low to the floor, a stool, and bucket. First it's the pre wash, then the soaking in a tub full of hot water. He figured that it must be the straightforwardness of this facility along with the need for space.

He opens the other door as it swings inward to find the toilet. It is a small state of the art one with a control panel on it.

Before going in, he takes a peek out the window to see nurses and some patients here and there. None of them notice him at first and he quickly ducks away, not wanting them to know that he is now up. He saw a lot of females though.

He uses the toilet, relieved to find a lock on the door. It is an unusual toilet, but not a hard one to use. There is even a bidet function on it too. A good thing.

Veikko eventually emerges and decides to now let them know that he is awake. He clasps the doorknob and takes a deep breath, knowing that he is about to expose himself to them. Steeling himself, he opens the door and steps out into the threshold.

All activity comes to an immediate stop as all heads turn toward him. Veikko feels like wanting to hurry back inside and hide behind those curtains, but he stands his ground. He looks around to see that they are indeed all female and all Japanese, both medical staff and patients alike.

He has a flashback to when he first visited Japan when he was eleven years old . . . that incident with that all-girl's high school . . .

Those females all start talking.

" . . . Look! The foreigner's awake . . . !"

" . . . He's big . . . !"

" . . . Gorgeous too . . . !"

" . . . So cute . . . !"

"I understand Japanese," Veikko finally spoke up, rasping through his dry throat. "I do not understand English very well."

" . . . Eh! He doesn't know much English, but understands Japanese . . . ?"

" . . . He's from Finland, they speak Finnish . . . !"

" . . . Someone get Doctor Tsuda . . . !"

Now that he has their attention, he returns inside to sit upon the bed, glad to be hidden. Ever since that incident in Japan at such a young age, he has since become painfully aware of his good looks and the attentions that females give him. Being shy and introverted like most Finns also play a role as well. Even if his hair and irises were pitch-black and he had a darker skin tone, he would still be a very good-looking man. But his pale blond hair, bright grey eyes, and milk pale skin enhances his exoticness toward these people for whom jet-black hair and irises, and a yellowish skin tone, is normal.

A minute later, a female physician enters with a pair of nurses.

"So you finally woke up," she said to him. "Now then, your first name is Vey-ko?"

"Yes."

"And your surname is Rye-nan-nen?"

"It's pronounced, ROO-nah-nen."

"I am Doctor Tsuda by the way. You were mildly dehydrated, Ryynänen-san, but your fluids should be fully replenished by now, so a drink of water should fix that dry throat of yours." She then orders one of the nurses to go and get a large glass of water.

The nurse returns with a large glass of water and carefully hands it to him, then gives him a slight bow. Veikko thanks her and drinks the water, which is lukewarm. Yet he finds it to be easier to drink at that temperature than cold.

"That's better," he gasped after drinking the cool refreshing water. "Now then, Doctor Tsuda . . . I know that I'm on a small island, but what is this place called exactly?"

"The Amazon Academy."

"What's that?"

"An educational institution for Japanese girls."

Veikko tightens his lips momentarily.

"Do you remember what had happened to you?" Doctor Tsuda asked.

"Yes, of course." And he explains all that had transpired.

"So you really did swim for that long?" Dr. Tsuda said with amazement.

"Unfortunately, yes," he answered in a casual manner.

"You clearly are an extremely tough man to accomplish such a feat!"

"I . . . suppose," Veikko answered in a somewhat embarrassed manner. "I also remember being helped by a girl who kicked the door to the island off its hinges so I could get in."

"Describe her?"

"She was blond like me."

"I see," Dr. Tsuda said seriously as she looks to the nurses with a dour look.

"It must've been a bleach job anyway because she was one of you," Veikko answered with a dismissive tone. "Her wrists were shackled together too. If you meet her, tell her I said thanks."

"We'll do that," Dr. Tsuda answered, then places her stethoscope in her ears. "Now then, Ryynänen-san, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling much better. Best sleep I've ever had, actually."

"I should hope so," as she places the end of her stethoscope under his gown to press against his back. "Because you were asleep for twelve hours."

She listens to his breathing, telling him to take deep breaths as she places the stethoscope on several different areas of his back. She next takes out a light and shines it into one of his eyes, then takes out a tongue depressor and gets him to open his mouth wide to look down his throat.

The doctor stares silently at him for a moment.

"I think that monitor and needle head in your arm can be removed," she finally answered, causing the nurses do just that. "A meal will be brought in later. Do you have any questions?"

"Is it possible for me to take a shower?" Veikko asked.

"Certainly. In the meantime, a meal is being prepared for you and your clothes will be sent to you after you have cleaned up."

The curtain is pushed back up against the other side of the wall. Out in the hallway, there are already some girls, notably patients, staring at him from around the door all smiles. Upon seeing him, they muffle squeals and giggles. Already he is feeling uneasy.

" . . . Waa, he's so cute . . . !"

" . . . So hot . . . !"

" . . . Gorgeous . . . !"

" . . . Really sexy . . . !"

"You will be returning back to your rooms unless you want to be discharged today," Doctor Tsuda said to them in an icy manner.

The girls quickly leave and Veikko goes to take a shower. He did feel a little loss over not being able to get into a sauna.

Veikko gets the right water temperature and gets himself wet. A small vial of shampoo and a small bar of soap was provided. He then turns off the water and washes first his hair then the rest of himself over. He frequently keeps checking that door behind him. Unlike the toilet room, there is no lock on this door. He keeps wondering if one of those girls will suddenly slide that door open to gawk at him. Come to think of it, any of those nurses can simply do that too; citing it as their duty to check and see if he's okay.

That is when a knock occurs, startling him momentarily.

"Yes!" He called out.

"I have a towel here in front of the door for you, Ryynänen-san," a nurse called out. "And your clothes have been cleaned and are lying on the bed."

"Th-Thank you!"

Veikko then winces slightly over forgetting to ask her on just simply leave them by his door, along with his towel, so that he can easily reach out and take them. So it is going to have to be that gown he left by the door. No wait, that nurse would've taken it with her, so he will need to resort to wearing that towel around his waist.

He turns the shower back on and rinses down thoroughly. After doing so, he turns off the shower once again and slicks his hair back and rubs water off his face. He slowly cracks the door open, causing the chill air to come rushing in, just enough for him to reach out while crouching down and takes the towel. He pulls it back inside, closes the door, and starts drying off. With no comb, he carefully dries his hair without ruffling it so as not to tangle it up.

After he finishes drying down, he wrings the towel out and wraps it around his waist tightly. He cracks the shower door open and discovers to his dismay that the nurse didn't close the outside door. If he walks out there now, he will be momentarily exposed; so he will need to be quick about this.

Cautiously, he opens the door while looking out toward the hallway. He does not see anyone there, so now is his chance. He slides the door open fully and scuttles toward where his clothing is while looking toward the door. When he is several feet from the shower, he turns to continue his walk.

Veikko is stopped by the presence of four girls, all patients due to their gowns, standing there all grins and giggles between him and his clothing. He glances back to see two more grinning girls blocking his path to the toilet and shower.

"Hey there, blonde-chan," one of the girls at the front of the group blocking access to his clothes said in a playful manner, and clasps her hands behind her back as she leans forward slightly. "Let's have a little chat."


	3. Chapter 3

Nineteen years earlier . . .

_Veikko was eleven years old and walking down a street in Rumoi, Japan. He was feeling somewhat funny at all the various people who stared at him. Many were drawling that word, kawaii._

_He rounded a corner and walked past a school. It was at that moment when the bell sounded. Its students filed out in their hundreds and he immediately noticed that they are all teenaged girls._

"_Wah! Look at the cute little foreign boy!" One of them squealed while pointing at him._

_KAWAII!_

_They squealed in one voice._

_One second, they were closing the distance with him. In the next second, he was grabbed and passed around. His vision was a flurry of breasts and faces as they got pressed against his own face and his scalp. His hair getting grabbed and stroked. He found it hard to breathe._

_Those girls squealing, squalling, squawking . . ._

_Some girls were more considerate, especially the older ones, and they pulled him away from the others and scolded them for their recklessness. They in turn escorted him home. He was disheveled and silent the whole time. Once he got home, he went to his room and cried about it. He never went anywhere alone after that._

* * *

Veikko now feels like that little boy all over again as he gets cornered by those gleefully grinning girls against the wall alongside the window. He firmly holds onto his towel at one end.

"Oooo, he's a shy one," one of the girls taunted.

"Is it true that when you were being dried down," the head girl next said to Veikko, "that you caused one of those girls to faint when you got a hard-on, blonde-chan?"

Veikko blushes as he looks off to one side while frowning with widened eyes and shrunken pupils as sweat drops run down the side of his face. The suffix chan was even used toward him. He knows that suffix evokes childlike connotations so it ends up being used toward girls, youthful women, and even animals. But in this circumstance, it is insulting and sexual.

"C-Can you please leave me alone," Veikko said.

"Answer my questions first," the head girl smirked deviously as she leans forward slightly with both hands behind her back while looking up at him.

Veikko glares back down at her for a moment.

"Fine," he muttered.

"What's your name?" The towel thief asked.

"V-Veikko . . . Veikko Ryynänen."

"Veikko Ryynänen," the head girl said thoughtfully as she presses her forefinger against her chin while looking upward with only her eyes. "Your given name actually rhymes with my name, Reiko. I'm Katsura Reiko by the way. And you're from Finland?"

"Yes."

"I've heard of that country! You guys invented the Moomins . . . ! So . . . how old are you?"

"Thirty."

"Really? Are you gay?"

"No."

"Do you have a big cock?" As she looks down while leaning forward; the other girls giggle.

"I don't know," Veikko rasped sarcastically while covering his front with his other hand. "African men are said to have bigger ones."

"May we see it?" As she attempts to bend further down while turning her head upward to peek.

"Leave!" Veikko grunted in a restrained manner as he bends forward.

"When did you first have sex?" Reiko asked instead.

Veikko sighs deeply as he closes his eyes and gnashes his teeth. "I-I didn't."

"Ehhhhh!" They all squealed.

"You're still a virgin!" Reiko exclaimed.

"I-It's not like I'm the only man who's still a virgin," Veikko said icily. "There are men older than me who are still virgins."

"But those men tend to be ugly," Reiko countered.

"So handsome men can't be virgins?"

"It's hard for them to remain virgins. How can you still be a virgin anyway?"

"I like to keep to myself. That and I've yet to meet the right woman."

"What about me?" Reiko asked with casual boldness as she suddenly lifts her gown with both hands to expose her nudity.

"_Perkele!_" Veikko shouted the curse word unique to the Finns with wide eyes and shrunken irises. His heart skips a beat as he turns his head away on a reflex. He feels the rush of lust flowing through him, causing him to gnash his teeth and his body to react to what he had just seen and he presses his other hand firmly against it. The girls squeal with laughter.

"Well? How about it?" Reiko taunted as she continues exposing herself to him, lowering one of her hands to her femaleness and parting it with her fingers. "You wanna lose your virginity with me?"

"Leave me alone!" Veikko pleaded softly in a strained voice with a pained expression.

"Come on, Veikko-chan," she crooned as she reaches out and clasps the towel end, "I'll even give you a-"

"I guess somebody's well enough to be discharged tomorrow morning," one of the nurses interrupted quite loudly and sarcastically from behind, causing the girls to squeal and jump, "since they are clearly well enough to harass the other patients!"

"N-No, you can't!" Reiko wailed. "I can never get a badge! And there's a group of girls out there who wanna make me their girlfriend!"

"And yet you seemed to forget that, Katsura-san!"

"I . . . I . . . uh!"

"You've overstayed your presence here and are missing classes . . . ! In fact, all of you have!"

The girls take off running as they squeal in fear, the nurse turns to him for a moment.

"Th-Thank you," Veikko rasped.

"Don't mention it," she said in a somewhat whimsical fashion as she gives him a once-over before leaving. He hears the door close.

Veikko takes a moment to catch his breath and calm his thoughts. He goes over to his clothes and takes them. He walks off out of view of the door and first puts his underwear then his pants on before removing the towel. He puts the rest of his clothes on and checks the pocket on his right leg to find his ID still there.

He sits on the bed for a minute when the door opens and a nurse enters wheeling a cart with a tray of food on it. It consists of a bowl of rice, miso soup, and a mackerel. There are glasses of milk and orange juice to go with it too, along with chopsticks and a spoon.

"Word has been sent to the Student Council," the nurse said.

"The Student Council?" Veikko mused. "What about the principal of this school? Wouldn't she want to meet with me?"

"Well," the nurse began in a somewhat uneasy tone, "It's a little . . . complicated here."

She gives him a slight bow and leaves. Veikko begins eating. With chopsticks, he has better skill with firmer or larger portions than with softer or smaller portions.

After he finishes eating, he gets up and looks out the window some more. He is not bothered for the next few minutes.

"Where's that foreigner?" A girl suddenly asked quite loudly out in the hallway out of view.

Veikko walks in full view of the door as he hears the sound of clip clopping getting louder by the second as it is heading in his direction. The girl in question walks into view and stands in the threshold.

She is a tall attractive girl, almost as tall as himself, with long hair and a strong shapely physique that includes thick thighs. Her attire consists of a martial officer's hat; an open ankle-length coat with a high collar that has three star-shaped metallic badges on its left side; an open blouse that reveals a white bandage wrapping around her torso; a card attached to a rope for a necklace; a blue miniskirt with a frayed hemline and held at the waist by a rope-like belt; more white bandages wrapped around her shanks; and wooden square sandals. Those sandals have a pair of thick wooden bars on their soles that have been adding a couple of inches to her height all along.

The girl grins broadly and walks up to him as she continues looking him over. Her sandals clop on the tiled floor.

"Well hello there," she said in a sultry tone. "My name is Sasarano Sara. The Student Council sent me over to escort you to them. What's your name?"

"V-Veikko," he answered as he holds out his hand for her to shake. "Veikko Ryynänen."

"So they told me," Sara said as she takes his hand and briefly shakes it. He is subtly bemused by her strong grip. "They also told me that you understand Japanese but not English. That's weird."

"I'm from Finland. So my native language is Finnish."

"Finland, isn't that where the Moomins come from?"

"Yes."

"Ready to go?"

"Y-Yes, but why not to your principal?"

"Because the Student Council calls the shots around here."

Veikko blinks with bewilderment over that. A bunch of students telling adults what to do! That is when he starts to feel a wrongness to this place.

"I'm gonna join them very soon," Sara continued proudly. "I already have three badges to get their permission to join," as she gestures to those star-shaped badges. "Now let's go."

They pass the doctor, who gives Veikko a slight bow and he nods in return. They turn down various hallways and encounter both patients and staff who pause to stare at him. Many grin and giggle, causing Veikko to feel ill at ease.

"How long has this place existed for?" Veikko asked Sara.

"For several years now. Most girls, especially the older ones, have been here for three years."

Veikko now understands about Katsura Seiko's wailing over being made a girlfriend. And if it were not for the professionalism of the staff, he would have been perpetually subjected to sexual harassment and assault.

They exit the infirmary out into a warm clear sunny morning. Sara's sandals clip clops on the cement-covered ground this time as Veikko follows closely behind. Girls dressed in their school uniforms and carrying their book bags are walking toward the main buildings, either as individuals or in various groups. He has a clearer view of their uniforms now. They consist of a white blazer with a left breast pocket that has a crest attached to it and blue in the cuffs, buttons, pocket edges, and hemline; a blue blouse; a white necktie; a blue miniskirt with a white trim; black socks with a white trim; and black slip-on leather loafers. There are also some of them wearing a red beret and armlet on their left arm.

"I can't help but notice that you're dressed differently," Veikko asked.

"It's because I can," Sara simply answered in a manner of importance.

Veikko next notices that many of the schoolgirls are bandaged, with some even wearing casts, as they had emerged from the infirmary. Come to think of it, the infirmary was practically a hospital, given its extensiveness. As if, these problems are commonplace.

The wrongness becomes clearer.

As expected, and like a row of dominoes, the girls notice him. Veikko's unease increases and tries to look anywhere but at the students. He focuses on the kanji lettering on the back of Sara's coat, even though he has trouble with kanji lettering. Although he comes close to fitting the stereotype of a Finn, supposedly a nation of shy introverts, it was that mauling he had suffered as a boy.

This is one of the disadvantages of the single gender school, especially isolated ones. Most of its students become sensitive to members of the opposite sex. And the longer those students remain within such a place, the more sensitive they can become . . .

" . . . He's gorgeous . . . !"

" . . . He blows my mind . . . !"

" . . . He's from Finland! That's where the Moomins are from . . . !"

" . . . Cute! So cute . . . !"

" . . . Sexy . . . !"

" . . . He knows Japanese . . . !"

" . . . What beautiful hair and eyes he has . . . !"

" . . . So pale . . . !"

" . . . He has such a beautiful face . . . !"

" . . . Sleek and sexy . . . !"

" . . . Nice ass on him too . . . !"

" . . . I heard he's hung like a horse . . . !"

" . . . I would love to ride that horse . . . !"

" . . . You'd probably tear your vagina . . . !"

"Are you okay, Ryynänen-san?" Sara suddenly asked, causing Veikko to snap out of his unwanted rumination and regard her.

"Um . . . Ah . . . I-it's all this attention," he stammered.

"Oh, so you're shy," Sara said with a grin. "Don't worry. We don't have that far to go. It's that big building over there."

She points to the tallest building on the island, which is roughly twenty stories, yet very narrow as it is covered in dark glass paneling at four panes across, save for its corners.

Sara is greeted by a pair of girls. One is wearing a surgical mask and has her hair short on the right side of her head and back, but long on the left side and top so that it is parted on the right and hangs lankly to cover the left side of her face. The other also has shortened hair, but with fluffier ends, and has doe-like eyes with a couple of freckles on either of her cheeks.

"Good morning, Sara-san," those girls said in unison with the customary bow.

"Good morning, girls," Sara replied. "I'm escorting him to the Student Council," as she thumbs back at Veikko with a glance and grin. "So what do you think of him?"

"He is so hot!" The masked girl said slowly and intently with saucer-wide eyes and tiny irises.

"You're so lucky to be escorting him, Sara-san," the doe-eyed girl commented dreamily.

"I know," Sara said, then continues her walk, causing Veikko to follow. He passes her giggling friends and keeps getting the feeling of being jumped until it passes.

They walk past countless girls gawking and chattering about him with glee. He keeps noticing their bandages and casts, but also their badges from the glints of sunlight being cast by them. That is when he notices that just as many, if not more, of those girls are not wearing a badge like the others are.

The wrongness becomes clearer.

"_Perkele!_" Veikko cursed as he jumps forward from being grabbed by the groin from behind. His heart skips a beat and a rush of desire courses through him.

Pain jabs one of his testicles, courtesy of a finger. He whirls around to confront the girl who groped him to see her standing there with a big grin. She is almost as tall as Sara, but slimmer. Her hair is short behind her ear line and the rest in front is long so that the locks, crudely parted in the middle, hang to her jaw line to emphasize her sturdy face. The sleeves of her school uniform are rolled up to her elbows, and she also wears half-finger gloves.

"What the hell are you doing?" He finally rasped at her through gnashed teeth with a glare.

"Just checking to see if it's true," the girl replied with one eye shut. "And it really is true."

Sara stalked past Veikko up to that girl with a glare to get in her face, causing that girl to sneer uneasily and back away. Sara retreats, with Veikko immediately following her.

"Don't get caught outside, blonde-kun," the girl called.

The wrongness becomes clearer.

As they continue along, Veikko starts noticing that there are some girls glaring at him, showing that not all of the girls are pleased with his presence. Sensitivity to the opposite gender can also cause negative reactions.

They too make their own comments concerning him . . .

" . . . Oh gross, it's that foreign male . . . !"

" . . . He's so big and scary . . . !"

" . . . His presence puts us all at risk . . . !"

" . . . Oh no, he's looking at us . . . !"

" . . . It's almost as if he can see through us with those pale eyes . . . !"

" . . . He's getting turned on by us . . . !"

" . . . He wants to shove that . . . that huge thing of his into us . . . !"

" . . . It's a good thing Sara-chan is here! She's really strong, so she can handle him . . . !"

" . . . I hope the Student Council has him put into a cell until he's removed from here . . . !"

" . . . Foreign men are naturally depraved! That's why they're bigger down there . . . !"

That last comment made him snicker. He wonders what they will think when they hear about the sexual harassment he had been subjected to. If they were lesbians, then they wouldn't have cared about him. Paradoxically, they are every bit as turned on by him as the other girls are; the only difference being is that they are ashamed of their active libidos, and are blaming him for it.

Veikko notices a lot of security cameras stationed at various intervals, with those closest to them following their pace. Why so many cameras in a place as isolated as this?

The wrongness becomes clearer.

Sara and Veikko continue walking past the ogling girls. Many are giving him the fig: a fist with the thumb wiggling out between the fore and middle finger to denote sexual interest.

He suddenly does a double take at a girl no more than twenty feet from him. For a second or two, their eyes meet. Unlike the others, she is silent, but wide eyed. She suddenly blushes. He recognizes her as one of the girls who stayed behind and made the effort to speak with him. He sees a gentleness in her eyes that the other girls don't have. They may look at him with wonderment and delight, but they have a dark look in their eyes. Sara has it too, but it seems more whimsical. With the exception of those who fear him, they look as if they may enjoy the opportunity to have their way with him.

The wrongness becomes clearer.

* * *

Amasu Kumi stares at a familiar blonde figure a head taller than most of the girls, causing her to gape with surprise.

_It's Veikko-san! He's okay!_ She thought with relief.

He suddenly does a double take upon looking her way and stops for a moment. For that moment, they stare at each other.

_He recognizes me!_ She thought with astonishment, only to blush over remembering what she was forced to do to him yesterday. She can only hope that he truly was unconscious when she was helping to dry him down.

Kumi watches as they continue their walk. She wonders if they will meet again, or of whether the Student Council will help him. A helicopter only comes to fly students to the island. Supply ships come here too, but only once a week. The last time was yesterday, so he may be here for a week.

* * *

Burai Sachiko had been watching them from atop a building all along. She had seen him earlier through that infirmary window. She first noticed him after getting the feeling of being watched. Like herself, the foreigner really sticks out. He is following a girl wearing a long coat as she is leading him toward the Student Council building. Naturally, they will want to meet with him.


	4. Chapter 4

They are now approaching the grounds of the Student Council building, notably marked by its walls surrounding those grounds. This time there are only those girls wearing the beret and armband, and they also each have a badge as well. They are either standing or walking around, as if on guard. They have since taken notice of Sara and their unexpected guest now approaching. Like the other girls, they are also smitten and make the usual comments about Veikko, who notices that some of them are holding collapsible billy clubs.

The wrongness becomes clearer.

"Stop!" A woman suddenly shouted from behind Sara and Veikko. "Stop right there!"

They turn to see the woman in question running up to them. She is wearing dark clothing that consists of a blazer, a crinkled high collar blouse, corsage sash, skirt, stockings, and high-heel shoes. She is also wearing thick framed glasses and her hair tucked away at the back of her head, but with a long forelock left hanging down the left side of her face. The woman is fairly tall, but due mainly to her shoes.

The woman stops before them and looks Veikko over scornfully. She has a mole underneath her mouth and seems to be pretty, although her glasses and hairstyle hide much of it. Her hard-looking eyes also diminish her prettiness as well. Veikko suddenly gets the feeling that this is a woman who is ruthless and harsh in meting out punishment, and happy about it too.

"That's Hamon Suzaku," Sara said to Veikko. "She's a teacher."

"What is your name, student?" Suzaku asked Sara.

"Sasarano Sara. The Student Council told me to escort him to them."

Suzaku stares at Sara for a moment.

"You," Suzaku suddenly said to Veikko. "I heard you understand Japanese."

"Yes, yes I do."

"What was your name again?"

"Veikko . . . Veikko Ryynänen."

"Veikko Ryynänen . . . And you're from Finland?"

"Yes."

"I know a bit about Finland. It is a northern European country situated between Sweden and Russia. You're a very long way from home, Ryynänen-san." She smirks slightly, but her smirk does not touch her eyes.

"Er, yes, yes, I am."

"Were you on a boat?"

"Yes. It was a sailing boat, but it had a backup motor."

"Was there anybody with you?"

"No, I was alone."

"Other than your native tongue and Japanese, what other languages can you speak?"

"I do know English, but not as well as I would like to."

Suzaku smirks, or more like sneers. Her eyes gleam with humorous contempt.

"Why were you sailing across the Pacific Ocean in the first place?" She suddenly asked derisively.

"Because I've always wanted to sail across it," he answered innocently. "I started out from San Francisco in America by the way. Then a squall blew up and I got shipwrecked. I swam all the way not knowing where I was going. But I swam anyway. Then I just happened to encounter this island."

Suzaku starts chuckling and slowly shakes her head slightly.

"What's so funny, Hamon-sensai?" Sara asked.

"A man," Suzaku began in an incredulous manner, "Caucasian . . . From Finland . . . Tall . . . Almost as pale as snow . . . Blond . . . Blue, no, grey-eyed . . . Fluent in Japanese . . . Decided to go sailing across the Pacific Ocean . . . Ran into a storm . . . Got shipwrecked . . . Swam for two straight days . . . And he just happened to swim here?"

"So?" Sara asked with amusement.

"It's so absurd," Suzaku ridiculed. "It's like a half-baked plot out of some cheap manga."

"But truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction," Veikko said.

"Indeed it can be," another girl said from behind.

Veikko looks to see the girl standing in their path toward the Student Council building. She is not wearing a beret and armlet like the others, meaning that she is a regular student. Her hair has side locks and a trimmed bang, but is left long behind her ear line and held up in a ponytail near her crown. Like Suzaku, she too wears thick framed glasses, but is also wearing a black eyepatch over her left eye.

"Yagiyuuin Hime-san," Suzaku said deliberately and like a curse.

"The Student Council is waiting to meet with Ryynänen-san," pronouncing his name correctly. "Please do not delay them any further, Hamon-sensai."

Hime's tone made Veikko feel as if a chill had suddenly descended. He had even seen a flash of rage in Suzaku's eyes, only to be quickly replaced with fear.

That growing wrongness has finally become clear. There is something dark and dangerous about this place and he cannot help but feel like a rabbit trapped on an island full of predators.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Veikko said to himself.

"Was that Finnish you were just speaking, Veikko-san?" Sara asked.

"Weren't you just taking me to see your Student Council?" Veikko asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, that's right."

They walk pass Hime, with Sara merely giving her a nod, which Hime returns; as if they were equals despite the single badge Hime has pinned to the collar of her blazer. But when Veikko looks Hime in the eye for what should have been a brief moment, he suddenly finds himself unable to break his gaze from her gaze. He turns his head to remain in sight with her until he walks past her as Hime keeps her eye in motion with him. Even though he is almost a head taller with nearly a hundred pounds more weight over Hime, he feels as if he is being sized up by a fox. A one-eyed fox.

With Sara leading the way, they walk down a hallway toward the elevators. They pass more of those girls with berets and armbands, who give her a respectful nod and also to Veikko, along with a grin. They giggle and comment about his good looks behind his back.

"Let the Student Council know that I'm here with him," Sara said to a girl behind a desk.

The girl picks up a phone and presses a button.

"Sasarano-san is here with the foreigner, President," she said.

There is silence for a moment before she puts the phone down.

"One of the members will be coming down for him."

"I can take him up to them," Sara said.

"You know that's not possible for you right now," the girl answered.

"Fine," Sara pouted.

Veikko surmises that Sara is the type that does not like being told what to do. So he decides to take her mind off the matter.

"Back when I was a kid," Veikko began, "I was surfing the web when I discovered a site about shared words. Words that exist in more than one language, even though the speakers had always used them and never learned them from others. It turns out that Finnish and Japanese have a number of shared words and names."

"Is that why you learned Japanese?"

"Yes, and like Finnish it is agglutinative with similar phonetics, making it easier for me to learn than English."

"What are some words and names that you Finnish use that we also use?"

"Well . . . there's the name, Inari. It is a female name. There is a town and a lake in Finland that are both named Inari."

"Really?"

"Minna is a female name for us. Jari is a male name for us, but spelt with a J instead of a Y."

"That's weird," Sara snickered.

"Your other word for fool, _ahou_. We have a similar sounding word that means, glade, and is also a surname."

"What!" Sara squealed in glee.

"Mika, Aki, and Jouko, spelt with a J instead of a Y, are male names for us."

"Oh, my God!" Sara laughed. "You're lucky you were never given any of those names, or else you would've had a harder time with us!"

"Here are some more of your names and words that means something else in Finnish," Veikko continued, "_Hana_ means faucet; _Sora_ means gravel; _Kasa_ means crowd; and _maku_ means taste."

Sara laughs until the dinging of the elevator calms her and the doors open to reveal another teenaged girl, a pretty one who walks with grace.

"You've done well, Sasarano-san," she said coolly. "You may leave."

"Look, I was wondering if-" Sara began.

"Sasarano-san," the girl said with more authority. "You know the deal and have yet to fulfill it. Only by fulfilling it will you be permitted to go into that elevator and stand before the Student Council."

Sara glares at her for a moment, then relaxes.

"You are dismissed," the girl said.

Sara sighs deeply then turns to Veikko. "It was nice meeting you Veikko-san. Maybe we'll meet again when I become a member of the Student Council." She leans closer with a mischievous grin. "And maybe we can have some fun together before you can leave." She makes the fig.

Sara leaves and Veikko watches her with a slight frown as a sweat drop trickles down the side of his face before turning his attention back to the girl who was sent.

"I do apologize for her crude behavior, Ryynänen-san," the girl said casually.

"You pronounced my surname right," he said with relief. "As did that eyepatch girl I met outside."

"Yes, we did research. Now come with me."

They enter the elevator, the doors close, and the ascension begins. The ride is a quiet one until it finally stops a minute later with a ding. Its doors open into a very large conference room with a lot of windows surrounding the place to let in a lot of natural lighting.

The girl walks out and Veikko follows closely behind.

"Stand right there, please," she said as she suddenly turned to press her fingers against his chest momentarily, causing him to stop. He can feel the strength in her hand. Moreover, her movement had been so swift and graceful that it seemed as if he blinked and she was in that position.

In another blink and the girl is walking toward a large table like a half circle in the center of the room with the flattened end facing toward him. From one end to the other are twelve girls, seated side-by-side, with an empty chair amongst them. The girl sits there and they stare at Veikko in silence.

He finds the silence heavy, but takes this opportunity to look each of them over. They are exotically beautiful girls, but they have the same effect upon him as Hime had. In each of their eyes, he can see the same glint he saw in Hime's eye. But that glint is even stronger, fiercer. Deadlier.

"Good morning to you, Veikko Ryynänen-san," the girl in the center suddenly said in a graceful voice that oozed authority. "I am the President of the Student Council. How are you feeling?"

"Ah . . . I feel . . . a little bewildered I guess."

The President smiles in a sympathetic manner. It's a beautiful smile, save that it doesn't seem to touch her eyes. "I'm sure you are," then looks at her notepad. "Given all that you must have been through."

She looks back up at him again. "You are thirty years old?"

"Yes."

"And you're from Mikkeli, Finland?"

"Yes."

"Your Japanese is very good. How did you come to learn it?"

He tells them what he had told Sara.

"That's very amusing," she replied with a tone of delight as a small smile graced her face and that glint lightened momentarily. The others react the same way.

"Ah, th-thank you."

"Is something wrong?" the president asked. "You're clearly flushed. Are you coming down with a fever?"

"Ah . . . well . . . It's just that . . . I-I'm aware of how I look to other females," Veikko answered nervously. "I was cornered by a group of girls after I got out of the shower and one of them propositioned me. Then on my way over here, I heard all sorts of explicit comments made about me from the other girls. And one even grabbed me between the legs."

"And you also find us attractive," the President pressed, "along with a lot of the girls here too. But you are afraid that you might end up doing something that will cause you shame."

Despite his cool appearance, Veikko feels as if he wants to melt into the floor all the way down to the center of the Earth.

"Be at ease, Ryynänen-san, none of us are going to try and seduce you. And our girls will be order not to try such things with you either . . . Now then . . . Tell us how you got to be here?"

Veikko tells them about how he had always wanted to sail across the Pacific Ocean, and about the storm that sunk his small boat.

"That is an incredible story of survival," the President continued. "You surely are very lucky to have encountered this island. But tell us about the first girl you met here."

"The oddest thing was that she was a blonde and was wearing a pair of shackles. She was a powerful girl too, because she helped me get inside by kicking that steel door in that wall off its hinges. Who was she?"

"Her name is Burai Sachiko," the President answered. "She is a fugitive and had spent the past six months in solitary confinement. We do have holding cells here for any girl who proves . . . troublesome."

"Okay," Veikko said with humorous unease. "So, what's going to happen to me?"

"A ship will be coming here to resupply us," answered the President. "You can get a ride back with them to the mainland. We will contact the Finnish embassy about you and they will be waiting for you when you get there. So that the other students won't molest you, lodging will be provided for you in this building."

_But who's going to protect me from my protectors?_ Veikko thought.

"Th-Thank you very much," he instead said respectfully with an awkward bow. "I really appreciate this. When will this ship arrive?"

"That should be in a month from today."

"A month?!"

"I'm sorry, Ryynänen-san, but that is the best that can be done for you."

"O-Okay, if that is the best you can do, then so be it."

"You will be shown to your room," the President answered. "I doubt you'll get bored here. You look like someone who does work out, so there is a gym in this building."

The doors opened and an enforcer emerges.

"Mika-chan," said the President. "Please show Ryynänen-san to his room."

"Yes President-sama," she said formally with a bow to match.

Veikko accompanies her into the elevator. They silently ride the elevator down to the floor in question. They do not speak to each other, but the girl is clearly sizing him up, albeit nervously because Veikko is a head taller with a hundred pounds more weight.

The doors finally open.

"Follow me," she said.

They walk down a corridor past a row of rooms. They also pass more of her comrades, who grin and giggle at the sight of Veikko.

"Here's your room," she finally said as they stop before a door numbered 314. It is opened to reveal a small and simple room with a bed and a desk. There is a window to let in the daylight.

"Nice room," Veikko commented. "But there's no lock."

"None of the doors have locks. But there is a rule to knock before being permitted to enter."

"And of course the girls will forget this rule as they try to sneak in as I'm sleeping," he said in Finnish.

"What did you just say?"

"Oh sorry, I was just thinking aloud in Finnish. Nothing important."

"I'll leave you alone for now." And she left, closing the door behind him.

Veikko walks up to the window and looks out, having more view of the island. He next sits upon his bed.

"A month, huh?" He mused.

* * *

Amasu Kumi is walking down the hallway thinking about the foreigner. She wonders what the Student Council will really do with him. She snaps out of her musings by the presence of Hamon Suzaku waiting for her with a group of enforcers.

"Hooo, don't you look just adorable, Amasu?" She gloated. "Were you thinking about that foreigner? I met him too. I'll admit he's a beautiful man, but he's just not my type. Simply because he's not Japanese. Were you remembering when you helped dry him off?"

Kumi blushes severely as she frowns and her eyes go wide and her irises go tiny as she looks off to one side.

"I bet you're wishing you were working for the Student Council right now," Suzaku said deliberately with a broad smirk. "Perhaps you'll get in on a lottery as a reward for your loyalty. But I've heard the details, so the more intimate orifices will need stitching. And then abortions will need preforming to prevent half-breeds from polluting our gene pool."

Suzaku then leers at the enforcers. "But I suppose it can't be helped because of the boredom from _eating_ the same thing every day."

The enforcers scowl with gnashed teeth as a drop of sweat runs down the sides of each of their faces.

"Or would that be every night?"

"W-What do you need from me?" Kumi interrupted, wanting to change the subject. The enforcers express their relief.

Suzaku pays attention to Kumi once again. "Right to the point, fine then . . . Nothing much. I just wanted to propose a little deal."

"A deal?"

"It's not such a bad deal. If you do well, I'll give you back your badge and hair band."

"R-Really?" Despite the warning she feels, Kumi cannot help but to feel relief that she is at least going to get her sister's hair band back.

"Yes." Suzaku leans forward once again, but clasps Kumi's necktie and pulls her forward to get into her face. "Lend me all your power in the hunt for Burai Sachiko!"

Kumi is next dragged down into the detention cells and handcuffed to a pipe. It is here that Suzaku beats her, demanding for her to call out Burai Sachiko with her cell phone. Sachiko eventually shows up to rescue Kumi. After trapping Suzaku in the door, Sachiko breaks Kumi's cuffs. Sachiko turns her attention to the sadistic teacher and demands Kumi's badge and hair band back, and gets them. Kumi and Sachiko then both demand to know if Suzaku had killed Towa.

But Suzaku told them that not even she can kill a member of the Student Council.

The revelation of Towa once being a member of the Student Council comes as a surprise to the girls. They let her go and the after school bell soon rings. Kumi and Sachiko are grateful to each other, then Kumi faints, prompting Sachiko to catch her. Just as a hoard of badgeless schoolgirls come running, with Mineko amongst them. Mineko immediately recognizes Sachiko and flees. The other girls do not and are soundly trounced by Sachiko.

Suzaku is confronted by Yagiyuuin Hime and scolded for ignoring her advice and endangering the members of the Student Council. She places Suzaku under a month-long house arrest, much to Suzaku's shock, then walks away as the elevator doors close between Suzaku and Hime.

"Amasu Kumi and Burai Sachiko finally paired up," Hime said aloud. "In the sake for the deceased Amasu Towa."

She next smirks slightly over this situation.

"How moving . . . And yet, the most worthless thing to do."


	5. Chapter 5

_Veikko had been meandering throughout the building for a time. He checked out the various places where he was permitted to go. As expected, the enforcers were seemingly everywhere. And as expected, they flirted with him, much to his chagrin._

"_What's Finland like?" One of the enforcers asked him._

"_It's a land of low rolling hills, pristine evergreen forests, and tens of thousands of lakes and ponds," Veikko answered. "With the exception of a little peninsula, the country is north of the sixtieth parallel. This causes extreme lengths of days and nights during the summers and winters. Up in the northern half of the country there is perpetual daylight from late spring to midsummer, but perpetual night from late fall to midwinter."_

"_Ehhh!" The enforcers exclaimed._

"_How do you deal with that?" Another enforcer asked with amazement._

"_Where I come from, there is night, but it is still very short in the summer, as are the days during the winter. That's the thing I noticed when I first visited Japan. The days and nights are not extreme in duration during the summer or winter. So there is a proper night during the summer and a proper day during the winter."_

* * *

Veikko is now hurrying down the hallway with a look of grave concern on his face in search of some of the enforcers. It's funny how it is that when one doesn't need any help, it is all around them. But when one does need help, it is nowhere to be found. He finally comes upon three of them.

"Veikko-san, what's wrong?" One of the girls asked with a worried look.

He absently points off to one side, unsure of what to say exactly as his eyes repeatedly shifts to where he is pointing while he mentally processes over what to say.

"Th-There's a riot going on outside," he finally said in a quiet tone of bewilderment.

Several minutes ago, he heard the tower bell ring for four p.m. and went to a window to look at it. He spotted it and it showed four o'clock like his watch. He looked down and saw hordes of girls running out of the school like ants swarming out of an anthill. He was amused over their eagerness to leave school for the day.

But his amusement disappeared when he saw them attack each other. The fallen girls then had something removed from their blazer by their attackers. Those attackers in turn were attacked, or ran off to attack another girl. There was no attempt on anybody's part to stop it.

The girls glance at each other ruefully.

"That is nothing for you to worry about," one of the girls answered in a polite, yet firm tone.

"But aren't you at least-" Veikko ventured.

"Veikko-san," another girl warned in that low drawn out tone. "It's none of your business."

Veikko stares at them in silent contemplation. He notes their expressions seeming to say, you just seen something that you shouldn't have seen. It all makes sense now: the looks in the eyes of those girls, the bandaged injuries that he saw, the whole wrongness of this island. Everything. And he had the misfortune of swimming here, hoping to be saved.

The problem is that he was saved by a pack of wolves, and a fox, in the form of Japanese schoolgirls.

* * *

Kumi is safely back in her dorm, along with Sachiko, who had safely escorted her there. Kumi is dressed in normal clothing now.

"-And he knows Japanese!" Kumi said as she was telling her all about the strange foreign man.

"I was watching him being escorted by a big sukeban to the Student Council building," Sachiko said.

"What do you think they'll do with him?"

"Don't know. Maybe they'll take turns with him before tossing him to the other girls?"

Kumi giggles. "That's the first time I've heard you crack a joke."

She turns serious as she looks down at that long chain shackled to each of Sachiko's wrists, then reaches out and attempts to fiddle with the shackles.

"Don't take off," Sachiko suddenly said as she pulls her hands away, stroking one of the shackles, "the handcuffs."

"Eh? Why?"

"This collar and handcuffs are my punishment!" Firmness was in Sachiko's tone for the moment. "For me, who couldn't do anything about Towa's death . . . I couldn't answer Towa's expectations . . . I couldn't follow her order."

"Order?" Kumi asked with bemused over this sudden revelation. It would mean that her older sister was the dominant one. This she finds to be so unusual because of Sachiko's monstrous strength level.

But Sachiko is silent as she looks downward at her chain once again. "There's one thing I don't understand," she answered instead.

"Eh," Kumi asked with surprise, "and that is!"

"Those words from Hamon . . . When I got put into the cell, I didn't know at all that Towa was in the Student Council . . . Could be . . . she entered it after that."

Sachiko then looks back at Kumi. "As you know, I'm a fugitive," her tone now more serious. "I can't be with you during regular hours. But . . . After school, I'll definitely come to help you."

* * *

Veikko is staring out the window from a higher floor. He can see the various girls scuttling around as they carry objects for repair or disposal, and injured girls off to the infirmary. And it was all under the watchful eyes of the enforcers. He sees one enforcer strike another girl for apparent incompetence.

"Must you watch, Veikko-san?" One of the enforcers said somberly from behind him. "It doesn't concern you."

"It was around this time yesterday that I swam ashore, wasn't it?" He asked while still staring down at the scene.

"I think it was. The badgeless were the ones who took you to the infirmary."

"The badgeless," he echoed, then turns to the enforcer. "What is so important about those badges anyway?"

The enforcer is silent for a moment.

"They provide the wearer with food, clothing, and the ability to lock their dorm rooms," she finally answered.

"But that Sara girl who escorted me here had three of them."

"The more badges they acquire, the more important they become. If they have three, they can join the Student Council with their permission."

"Oh yeah, now I remember; that's what Sara had told me."

Veikko stares back at the scene below. He sighs deeply and looks at the enforcer once again with a somber expression.

"How can this brutality exist?" He demanded, but in a soft manner. "Surely your government-"

"Veikko-san, it's none of your business!" Her statement was forceful. "Please listen to what other people tell you!" She sighs and continues in a more relaxed but still serious tone. "Look . . . All you need to understand is that this place is for making Japanese girls better girls. Those who've lost are those who didn't have what it takes to make it. And as for the rest of our people being concerned . . . ? Well . . . have you ever heard of this place before arriving here?"

"Ah . . . No. No, I haven't."

"Well now there you go."

Veikko stares silently at the girl as he finally understands.

It is night time and Veikko is lying in bed attempting to fall asleep. He is wearing his underwear. With no lock on the door, he will just have to trust that those girls fear the displeasure of their superiors more than they desire him.

He can hear them whispering out in the hallway. From the different voices, it sounds like a few of them. Every now and again, their whispers are punctuated by giggling.

" . . . You think Veikko-kun's playing with himself . . . ?"

" . . . If he is, then his bedding will need changing . . . !" They giggle.

" . . . Shh! Shh! His room is over there . . . !"

" . . . I could go in there and help him. I just had my period so I should be safe for a few more days . . . "

" . . . The Council told us not to tease him . . . "

" . . . And given how big he his down there, you might end up getting injured . . . !" They giggle again.

" . . . Is he really that big down there, Yoko-chan . . . ?"

" . . . Yes, he is! Go ask Aki-chan! I was there with her when they were stripping him down! He is well hung! And it got even bigger too . . . !"

" . . . Why are European men big down there . . . ?"

" . . . Don't forget African men! They're supposed to be even bigger down there . . . !"

" . . . Maybe they're hornier . . . ?"

" . . . I doubt size has anything to do with sex drive. Because if it did, then the Far East would never have ended up being as populated by people like us as it currently is . . ."

More giggling.

Veikko sighs as he rolls over to get into a more comfortable position.

"And they say men talk dirty?" He sighed to himself.

He then realizes that one of the girls had used the suffix kun on his name. Males may address each other with that suffix if they are friends, but if a female uses it, it can only be toward another male.

Traditionally, a male she feels an attraction toward.

This comes as no surprise to him, given the affect he is having on those girls.

_Veikko is running throughout the school grounds while being chased by packs of crazed schoolgirls. They are legion. They call for him, taunt him. They promise pleasure. And ravishment, if he doesn't surrender. He is now cornered at the wall and turns to face the thousands of schoolgirls. Their eyes solid white as they leer so deviously over the promises they called._

_In a flash, they are upon him ripping at his clothes, nibbling. Biting. He can feel his flesh getting consumed._

_And he likes it._

He is suddenly aware of a chill reverberating down his spine and is unable to move. He cannot move anything but his eyes, which are still firmly shut. He has a raging erection and that hot sticky sensation flowing through his being as it seems to fill his nose. He cannot move and feels a deadly presence in the room. Is it those girls that he had heard earlier? Have they finally given in and come to have at him? They are going to jump him now.

And he will like it.

No! No, he cannot! He must not! He will not!

He moves his fingers, then his arm, and is able to move at last. Within that instance, the feeling of a presence is gone and relief floods him.

But the desire is still there. He imagines the terrible consequences of giving in. He doubts any have a venereal disease, but unwanted pregnancies are another issue. There is also the age difference, along with that feeling of loss if he does enjoy himself with any of them.

He grips his rock hard maleness, now so tender. Should he pleasure himself? No, he mustn't! It will only lead to an embarrassing mess to launder.

Veikko opens his eyes and looks around. It is still dark, so it must still be night. He wonders what time it is, but his watch is over on the table and doesn't bother checking. He should focus on sleep and shifts over halfway between his side and back, pulling part of the sheet up to cover his eyes. That hardness still proves troublesome.

"Rise and shine, Veikko-kun!" A multitude of girls shouted in sync.

Veikko bolts awake as he rapidly sits up. He is supporting himself upward with both arms straightened and at an angle past his back as he repeatedly blinks with a bewildered expression. He shakes his head to clear the grogginess of sleep and ends up seeing his door wide open and a crowd of smiling giggling enforcers at the threshold; some are standing, some are kneeling, and some more are peeking around the entrance in at him.

Veikko reddens over their collective gaze upon him at his most vulnerable.

"Wha-What the-?" He rasped with a bewildered look.

"The Council feels that you should also be getting up at this time," one of the girls said to him.

"Wha-What time is it?" Veikko rasped as he brushes his hand through his hair.

"It's eight a.m."

"Can I take a shower first?"

"Certainly."

"And since those are my only clothes, do you have any laundry spray instead?"

"Yes, we do."

One of them closes the door, leaving him alone. Veikko takes a deep breath and sighs with relief, then regrets telling them that he will be in the shower. He had seen the smirks on their faces as they were obviously entertaining thoughts of spying on him. Hopefully their fears of disobedience will prove stronger than their desires.

Nevertheless, he does take his shower, but his concerns do not come to pass. He is quick about his shower, especially since he doesn't need to wash his hair. They send him that laundry spray he wanted and uses it on the armpits of his shirt, in his pants, and in his underwear.

He has a breakfast of rice and fish, along with a glass of juice, and is afterward taken before the Student Council once again.

"We have decided to allow you to walk around outside," the President said. "But only on the immediate grounds of our compound, and while school is in session."

"That's good to hear . . . So . . . right now?"

"Yes."

As promised, Veikko does go outside onto a clear warm morning. It felt great to be able to do so. From his room all along the way, he was greeted with a good morning by the girls. Just like the girl who had awakened him, they are starting to address him with the suffix kun.

"Veikko-kun," one of the girls would tell him, "be sure to be back before four p.m."

"Is that when classes get out?"

"Yes. If you're not inside our building before then, the security doors will close and cannot be opened until the outlaw zone period ends."

Veikko blinks at her for a moment. "Then I guess I better be inside by at least three thirty then," he said flatly.

"Good idea. And there may even be classes leaving to go to other buildings during school hours."

"I see where you're going. If any such class comes along, I better make myself scarce or . . . or they might come after me."

Veikko goes for that walk. He walks through a grove as it reminds him of the forests of Finland. His thoughts are interrupted upon feeling that somebody is nearby and he looks around.

"You!" He gasped at the sight of Burai Sachiko up in a tree, staring down at him. Sachiko tenses, to either hurry away or attack.

"Wait! I only wanna talk!" Veikko hissed quickly. "Don't worry! I won't call them!"

Sachiko relaxes.

"I remember you," Veikko said. "Your name is . . . Sachiko?"

"Burai Sachiko," she replied.

"Now I remember. Anyway, I want to thank you for helping me get inside. My name is Veikko . . . Veikko Ryynänen."

"What have you learned about this place, Veikko Ryynänen-san?"

"Well . . . as I was watching from up inside the Student Council building . . . I learned that when school ends for the day, all the girls that don't have any badges beat the shit out of those who do have them and take them. The first time I saw it, I told some of the girls in the tower about it. But they told me to ignore it. Their expressions said it all. It ends hours later and the badgeless ones are forced to do cleanup. This morning, everything is back to normal and the girls are all normal once again. The thing I don't get is how your government does not know about this sort of thing. Although it was hinted to me that they do. Is there anything more about this place I should know?"

"Only that some of the girls don't survive." Her tone trembled as her cheeks twitch and eyes moisten.

"That . . . doesn't surprise me."

Sachiko suddenly tenses while staring past him with a concerned expression. Veikko quickly looks back to see a schoolgirl standing about thirty feet away from him. A crashing sound immediately brings his attention back to Sachiko, but she is gone. He frowns slightly from internal bewilderment, wondering if she is a ninja. He returns his attention to the other girl, only to find her now almost within arms' reach of him.

"Good day to you, Veikko Ryynänen-san," she said as she gives him a respectful bow and polite smile. "My name is Yagiyuuin Hime."


	6. Chapter 6

Veikko briefly shakes hands with Hime, getting a feel of her firm grip. A strong grip.

"Are you enjoying your time here, Ryynänen-san?" She asked.

"Ah . . . well," he began, "it does have its moments. A-About her, I can explain."

"No need. You were grateful to her and you felt morally obliged not to raise a call."

Veikko relaxes. At least as best he can with her.

"You've made quite the impact here, Rynnänen-san," Hime continued. "Girls all over the school are talking about you. Months, even years, spent in isolation on this island with only girls around, all of whom are overwhelmed by the changes going on in their bodies. Then an exotic foreign man swims up here. I bet the girls in the Student Council tower flirt with you a lot. Are they starting to address you with kun?"

"Yes."

"And you speak good Japanese too. How did you come to study it?"

"It was due to the phonetic similarity and a number of shared words and names it has with Finnish."

"Then say the following phrase in your native tongue . . . It is a clear warm day on this small Japanese island out in the Pacific Ocean that has an all-female educational institution called, the Amazon Academy."

Veikko says it in Finnish.

"Sounds almost like Italian," Hime finally answered. "But the phonetics does remind me of Japanese. What of these shared words and names you mentioned?"

Veikko tells her about them.

"Amazing how coincidences exist everywhere," Hime mused.

"The Finnish language," Veikko said, "is not even a part of the Indo-European Family, let alone its Germanic Branch, which includes English. It is a part of the Urgo-Finnic Family."

"That's unusual."

"What do you know about Finland, Yagiyuuin Hime?"

"It is also known as Suomi to your people and is the second most northern country in the world, just after Iceland. Every square kilometer is north of the sixtieth parallel, save for a single peninsula that is inhabited by a town called Hanko. The northern half experiences the midnight sun for a couple of months of the year, and a winter nighttime that also lasts for just as long. Yet the winters are not as cold as one would expect them to be for so northern a country because of the Gulf Current. It currently has a population of six million that are almost exclusively Finns, with the rest being minority groups such as the Swedes, Russians, and Sami. Your people are stereotyped as reticent stubborn introverts who are said to share many traits with us Japanese."

"Very good," Veikko said respectfully. "You've done your homework."

"I've also heard about the details of what happened for you to end up here," Hime said with a grin. "Such willpower, as expected of your people."

Veikko tightens his lips momentarily and blushes as he looks away for a moment. Hime chuckles and her grin becomes more pronounced. He finds her to be a pretty girl, despite her one eye. She even speaks with a serene tone. He imagines taking her some place private where they may enjoy each other.

Shame immediately explodes in him, causing him to gasp slightly as he pulls back from her. Why was he getting so close to her face like that! All of a sudden, she is herself once again, along with that glint in her eye. Oh yes, Veikko now understands once and for all that this girl is no empty-headed schoolgirl. Her passions are firmly under the domination of her ice-cold intellect so that she can use them like a weapon.

A deadly weapon.

"Don't you have any classes?" Veikko asked.

"Yes, I do have to get going soon," Hime said as she touches her glasses. "Between the single gender here, the isolation, and the aggression going on during after school hours that you obviously know about by now, how do you think those girls are going to react if you were to be caught outside? My guess is that they won't hurt you, at least not deliberately, but they will be very rough with you. And you don't like rough females."

Veikko remains silent.

"Well . . . It was nice talking with you, Veikko-san."

And she walks away.

Veikko stares at her for the moment. Finally, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes then sighs intently.

_What the hell just happened with me just now!_ His thoughts shouted.

* * *

Hime grins as she chuckles to herself for a moment then makes the following observation.

"His sexual urges are linked to his romantic feelings. Yet they are balanced out by his sense of shame. Such people hate imposing themselves . . . But . . . that is also a weakness because it just means that a naturally gentle and naive female can send him over the edge. Male or female, the romantic ones are . . . so weak."

* * *

Kumi and Mineko have finished their lunch. Earlier that day, Kumi was approached by Mineko. At first, Kumi was fearful that she might try and take her badge, but Mineko begged forgiveness and asked to join her. Kumi allowed her by asking for her friendship.

If Kumi had only known that Mineko was only scheming to get close to her; not only to get protected, but also attempt to steal her badge at some point as well.

It is now lunchtime as Mineko and Kumi are having their lunch when Kumi asks about the Student Council. Mineko tells her about them and that they set school regulations and policy and have more power than even the teacher.

"I wonder how they're treating Veikko-san?" Kumi then wondered.

"Probably to one of their girls last night, meow," Mineko chuckled as she makes the fig while drawling her meow and lolling her tongue. She next covers her mischievous grin with her hand as her eyes widen. "But that would've been a problem for the poor girl with that huge-"

"What else were you going to say about the Student Council?" Kumi asked impatiently, wanting to change the subject back.

As it goes, Kumi learns that only those with at least three badges can gain access to the Student Council, and even join them if permitted. An exception is made for the Class Representatives concerning trivial matters. Upon demanding to know who their Class Rep is, uneasy silence overcomes the class as the students give her worried looks. Even Mineko is reluctant to speak of her.

That is until she enters and introduces herself as Yagiyuuin Hime. Then in quick succession downplays Towa's death, angering Kumi to the point that she attempts to slap Hime, only to have Hime grab her wrist. The rest of the class is shocked. Mineko tells Kumi that Hime had battered the entire Kendo Club the day she joined because they wanted her to give up her badge to them and got the nickname, Ice Yagiyuuin, because her expression didn't change. But Kumi doesn't care and ends up talking about the bonds between sisters and demands for Hime to take back that insult. Hime lets go of Kumi's arm and walks away.

"Wait!" Kumi exclaimed. "We're not done!"

"Let me ask then," Hime next replied as she stops and turns to acknowledge Kumi. "Are you saying that you understand everything about your sister?"

After school, the carnage begins and Sachiko shows up to protect Kumi, and by extension Mineko, until Kumi is safely back in her dorm.

"I met Ryynänen-san earlier today," Sachiko said.

"I thought it was Ry-nah-nen?"

"No, it's pronounced ROO-nah-nen. He told me so. Anyway, he thanked me and now understands what's going on here . . . I probably would've talked longer but a girl wearing an eyepatch showed up and I didn't wanna hang around any longer. I met her earlier actually."

"Her name is Yagiyuuin Hime, and she's my Class Representative. Be careful, Burai-san, I was told she's very powerful."

"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye."

Kumi gets ready to take a shower, only to learn that it is out and has to use the public bath. A dangerous thing to do since there could be other girls there and they might try and take her badge. She goes down there anyway; relieved to find that nobody else is around and does her pre wash before soaking in the large hot pool. A girl enters and Kumi is forced to hide. Instead of hoping for her to do a pre wash, the girl simply splashes into the pool and soaks there, forcing Kumi to wait her out. The hot water begins affecting her, knowing that sooner or later she is going to pass out.

But the girl does that instead, forcing Kumi to rescue her. The girl revives and laughs it off and turns out to be friendly. They talk for a while.

" . . . I was escorting him," Sara said.

"I also helped carry him to the infirmary," Kumi said.

"I see," Sara said smarmily with a playful leer. "And that also means you helped undress and dried him over, right?"

Kumi turned red and frowned uneasily as she looked elsewhere with wide eyes and shrunken irises. "Y-Yes," she finally stammered.

"Is it true that he's big down there?" Sara asked gleefully with smaller irises as she leans closer to Kumi.

"Y-Yes," Kumi croaked as her face turns red. "A-And one of the girls fainted when he got . . . bigger."

Sara bellows with laughter, startling Kumi.

"Ah, I really wish I was there!" Sara finally sighed as she wipes a tear from her eye. "Since I'm a big girl myself, I bet I'm wide enough for him too!" She flips her towel with a lolling of her tongue. Kumi's face reddens once again as her eyes go as wide as saucers and her irises shrink.

Sara lowers her towel and continues. "But he's really shy though. And he's supposed to be a virgin too. Don't surprise me one bit, with all the blushing and stammering he did under the gaze of all those girls back when I was escorting him. He's like a dainty highschool girl on a subway full of perverts!" She laughs again.

"I think it's nice that there's a man who's like that," Kumi said respectfully.

"Anyway," Sara said as she playfully slaps Kumi's shoulder, "I better get going."

"Me too," Kumi agreed.

Once they are out in the change room, Sara finally remembers to ask Kumi's name, then introduces herself, telling her that she owed her one.

The next day at lunch, Mineko's loud mouth frightens Kumi, who demands for her to be quiet. Mineko goes on to say that she has nothing to fear with Burai Sachiko backing her. And if she remains all right, she can graduate and live a comfy life as an elite. Kumi notices that high narrow dark building behind Mineko and is told that it is the Student Council's building. Mineko knows that Kumi is up to something stupid and tries to talk her out of it.

But Mineko finds herself on Student Council grounds with Kumi anyway, who claims to only want a look around, then sees how well the place is guarded.

"I don't see Ryynänen-san anywhere," she said at one point.

"He's probably inside, meow," Mineko said.

Mineko suddenly screeches over a bug, drawing the attention of the enforcers who come running. Mineko also goes running as well. Kumi is left alone and now cornered by the enforcers. She is shoved against the wall by one of them while the other reads her ID book. They learn that she is the one who got Suzaku placed under house arrest and some of their comrades injured.

One of them is about to club her with her baton, causing Kumi to flinch. It doesn't come and she looks to see Sasarano Sara holding the enforcer by her wrist and squeezing it, causing the girl a lot of pain.

Sara goes on to taunt the enforcers.

* * *

Veikko doesn't remember blacking out. He is only aware of lying on the ground with the back of his neck hurting. With a gasp, he quickly gets up.

"What the hell just happened!" He groaned aloud in Finnish while rubbing the back of his neck.

He checks the time.

"_Perkele_," he cursed through gnashed teeth and shrunken irises upon seeing that it is only a few minutes until school ends.

He runs as fast as he can, knowing what may happen to him if that bell were to ring before he can get inside the Student Council building in time. Ironically, he also doesn't feel too worried because he understands that it will really all come down to how desperate those girls are for a badge over wanting to have their way with him.

* * *

"Quick, everyone into the building!" One of the enforcers yelled.

"What about Veikko-kun!" Another yelled.

"He was warned about this! Now hurry!"

The enforcers all run into the Student Council building and the doors close, leaving Sara and Kumi alone.

"Thanks," Kumi said. "You saved me, Sasarano-san."

"No prob," Sara answered. "You helped me too yesterday. Now we're even."

"Look!" Kumi exclaimed.

Sara looks to see Veikko running up.

"Hey, Veikko-san!" Sara called out to him while waving.

Veikko waves back to her tentatively. He next notices another familiar face with her, but turns to run up the steps and sees that the security door is closed. He groans as he lowers his head and rests it on the cement stair casing. He was warned that they cannot casually open those gates once they are closed, so he will be forced to wait until after the mayhem dies down, which will be late this evening.

"So I guess they told you about the doors not being opened right away," Sara snickered. He looks up to see her walking up to him with a gloating expression, along with Kumi, who has an intrigued expression.

"Ah, don't worry, I'll protect you from those girls!" Sara said jovially as she suddenly puts him in a headlock.

Veikko gasps at having his face pressing into one of her firm breasts and the hug of her arm. Her muscles feel like steel. Her touch, while not exactly gentle, does set off that feeling within him.

"Oh wow, you got such soft thick hair," Sara said as she starts stroking his hair, then rubs her face into it. "It feels like bunny fur!"

"Could you please let me go?" Veikko said as his voice is muffled by her breast.

She does so, then introduces him to Amasu Kumi, who bows to him.

"Hello, Amasu Kumi," he answered. "I remember when you spoke English to me." And he extends his hand.

"Eh, you remember me?" Kumi answered with a subtle tone of surprise as she points at her own face while taking hold of his hand with the other.

"Oh, yes," as he briefly shakes her hand and lets go. "I don't know much English though. But still, thank you."

"Ah, y-you're welcome," Kumi said nervously with a blush as she did another formal bow while fumbling with her hands.

"What's this, are you charming other girls now, Veikko-kun?" Sara said in a mockingly hurt tone. "Am I not good enough for you?"

Veikko winces as he blushes and looks off to one side from her use of that suffix.

"Do you plan to join the Student Council?" Kumi quickly asked Sara to distract her from Veikko.

"Yep!" Sara answered proudly. "I think that's the fastest way."

"Fastest way?" Kumi asked.

"If I want to defeat the number one, I need to join the Student Council, else I can't even meet her . . . I want to become the number one of this academy no matter what."

_She wants to beat up the President?_ Veikko thought with amazement. Their school president is a girl who oozes grace, just as a panther oozes grace.

"Umm," Kumi said hesitantly. "When you're in the Student Council, there's a request I have."

"Oh! You're quick to act!" Sara mused, then turns serious once again. "But there's a condition for joining the Student Council."

"A condition?" Kumi inquired.

"Yeah," Sara answered.

An unwanted sound fills the air.

_The after school bell!_ Veikko thought as he gazes in the direction of the clock tower with a sweat drop rolling down the side of his face.

"I need to catch the girl called Burai Sachiko," Sara continued.

Veikko looks at Kumi and sees her shock. He wonders if Kumi and Sachiko are close friends.

"The Student Council told me dead or alive doesn't matter," Sara continued as she rubs her chin in contemplation. "And it seems she only appears during after school, so I'm having a hard time . . . Do you know Burai Sachiko?" She looks at Kumi, who ends up attempting to stammer a reply.

"I met her yesterday," Veikko said to cover for Kumi.

"You did?" Sara asked with a look of surprise. "Where?"

"It was back in that forest. I noticed her perched up in a tree and staring back down at me, but she stayed up there. We talked a bit before she left."

Sara suddenly frowns at him.

"What?" Veikko asked with unease, worried that she is now upset with him.

"Wait a mom," Sara instead said. "Don't move needlessly. After school, this place fills with girls trying to get members of the Student Council who were too late to retreat."

From all directions groups of girls stalk their way, many of them from the grove, and all bearing gleeful malevolent expressions. A bead of sweat rolls down the side of Veikko's face as his irises shrink and gnashes his teeth slightly. He hopes that his assumption about them wanting a badge more than him will prove correct.

" . . . What luck! The foreigner's trapped outside . . . !"

" . . . He's gorgeous! Let's have fun with him . . . !"

Veikko closes his eyes in frustration as he suddenly remembers that proverb: Don't assume anything or you make an ass out of you and me.

"Let's see if those girls are from the Student Council first," one of those girls said, and walk closer to Sara and Kumi.

"Those girls are not from the Student Council," another girl said, "but it looks like they got badges."

"Okay, don't blame me for what's going to happen!" Sara suddenly shouted.

The girls all attack in mass.

" . . . The early bird catches the worm . . . !"

" . . . A big fat worm . . . !"

"Don't regret it later!" Sara shouted as she makes her move. "Even if you can't walk for a while anymore!"


	7. Chapter 7

With a shout, Sara strikes one girl with an open palm, sending her flying like a rag doll, and becomes a flurry of fists and feet. Her would-be attackers go flying in every direction. One flies past Veikko, slamming into the concrete wall.

"Remember it!" Sara shouted as she butts heads with a girl, then kicks another. "The name of the girl who will soon reign over this academy!"

Sara takes another girl who foolishly thought she could grab her from behind, only to discover that Sara is fast for her size as that girl is effortlessly flipped over and slammed onto the ground upon her back. Within a minute, a dozen or more girls are now unconscious, and the others are now frightened and back away from her.

Sara strikes up a sumo pose.

"I like fighting better than I like meals!" She taunted them as she tips her hat. "Having a fighting overdose, Sasarano Sara! That's me!"

It proves too much for those girls and they run off to look for easier prey, leaving their fallen comrades behind.

_Perkele, that girl's a beast!_ Veikko thought as he shows his amazement with shrunken irises and a sweat drop running down the side of his face.

Once they are all gone, Sara returns to normal and focuses her attention back to Kumi.

"So," she said to Kumi. "Do you know her . . . ? The girl called Burai Sachiko?"

Veikko can see the conflict in Kumi's face. He wonders how she will answer when a loud thud suddenly attracts their attention, compelling them to look toward the source.

Burai Sachiko is now standing upon the rooftop of the nearby building.

_I don't know if that's good timing or bad timing. _Veikko thought.

He notices Kumi's shock and bewilderment. He imagines the turmoil she must be going through.

"Don't know who you are," Sara grinned at Sachiko. "But I can clearly tell that you're no average student . . . ! So what's the deal? You coming at me or not?"

Veikko tenses over the coming battle to ensue, only to become surprised by Kumi running toward Sara and grabbing her around her waist.

"Sasarano-san, run!" She shouted. "I-It's dangerous here!"

"Huh?" Sara said with bewilderment. "As if I, with my fighting overdose would be afraid of a fight and turn my tail!"

She then casually pushes Kumi aside, who ends up falling. "You stand back if you're scared!"

In that instance, Sachiko launches herself at Sara, flying right into her. Veikko watches the fight with amazement.

_Burai Sachiko is a match for Sara!_

At one point they try to roundhouse kick the other, only to have their legs cross.

"Not bad!" Sara shouted admirably. "I haven't met anyone as strong as you since I came here!"

It is at that point when Kumi runs toward them, only to slip on a piece of concrete and fall. This catches both girls off guard and Sachiko ends up punching Sara through the concrete wall of a building. Veikko gapes in astonishment.

"What the fuck are those girls?" He hissed to himself. "They must be superhuman!"

He next watches Kumi confronting Sachiko as she waves her arms and shakes her head, clearly wanting to stop the fight, even pushing her back. Veikko notices Sachiko's expression of sorrow, of hurt. She turns away from Kumi.

"You . . . don't need me!" He heard Sachiko sobbing and looks as if she is on the verge of crying.

She leaps into the air, seeming to fly. Veikko gaped up at to where she flew. She couldn't have gone far because there is only this island to hide on.

"That girl is clearly superhuman!" He rasped while still looking skyward.

His attention next shifts to Sara coughing and sputtering as she is coming out of the building's new opening without injury.

"And that girl is like a tank!" He rasped with bemusement.

"Where did she go?" Sara shouted while looking around.

"Um . . . Who knows?" Kumi said innocently.

"I've seen some pretty crazy things in my life," Veikko said as he walks up to the girls, "but that was the craziest thing I've ever seen! I don't know about that girl, Burai Sachiko, but are you even human, Sara?"

"Of course I am, Veikko-kun," she laughed.

Veikko looks around to notice more girls fighting each other off in the distance. They are currently too busy focusing on their own victims.

"So now what?" He said.

"Yeah, it's too dangerous to hang around here," Kumi agreed.

"Can you get her back to her dorm safely, Sara?" Veikko asked.

"Yeah, I can," she said. "But what about you, Veikko-kun?"

"Hopefully, I'll find a place to hide until this savagery blows over. Perhaps up in a tree or somewhere. Judging by the thrashing you dished out, I think those girls who ran off are going to be quick to tell anyone to avoid this place."

"You got a point there," Sara said. "Come on, Amasu-san."

"It was nice meeting you again, Veikko-san," Kumi said respectfully yet nervously with a blush and a bow.

"Hey, Amasu-san," Sara said deviously. "Are you still thinking about when you striped him naked and dried him over?"

"S-Sasarano-san!" Kumi cried out.

Veikko looks back at Kumi, who looks off to one side with a deep blush as her eyes go wide and irises shrink like pinpricks while frowning.

"It must have been a traumatic experience for you," he said simply. "Oh, and Sara-chan," as he turns his attention to her once again. "I met with the Student Council, twice. They are all attractive and feminine girls, especially their President. She is beautiful, charismatic, and very feminine."

"Are you saying I'm not beautiful?" Sara frowned with narrowed saucer eyes with dots for irises.

"Physically, yes, you are attractive. But you're not feminine."

"What does femininity have to do with it?" Sara sneered with closed eyes while waving contemptuously with a lazy frown. "All it just means is that the Student Council is a bunch of prissy little girls that I'll crush like bugs."

"You don't understand," Veikko insisted. "Those girls are extremely dangerous. When I went before them, I felt as if I were about to be struck dead by any of them. I could almost see the raw power lurking within them, especially their President."

"Well thanks for your concern, Veikko-kun," Sara said nonchalantly while still retaining a lazy frown, "but I have to help get Amasu-san back to her dorm. See ya." She walks away with a casual wave. Kumi follows close behind, with a glance back at Veikko.

* * *

Yagiyuuin Hime is hiding behind a tree out in the grove nearby and had watched the whole thing. She grins deviously as her eye narrows, then hefts her wooden sword.

* * *

Veikko is now alone and looks around, fearful that those unconscious girls might regain consciousness any minute now and molest him. Then again, after seeing the beating that Sara had dished out, he doubts any of them might try to come after him.

He next notices Yagiyuuin Hime sauntering toward him as she rests her wooden sword against her shoulder, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"What are you doing out here, Ryynänen-san?" She asked with a hint of concern.

"I think I got knocked unconscious somehow, because I woke up on the ground with a sore nape, just before the bell rung. By the time I got back, the doors were already closed."

"Did you do all this?" Hime asked while gesturing at the girls with her sword.

"Oh no, it wasn't me. It was a girl named Sasarano Sara." He then explains what had happened afterwards.

"You were lucky she was around at the time."

"Yeah, these girls would've raped me."

"Rape," Hime mused. "It sounds so amusing when it's female-on-male."

"Yeah, I know. Some guys have fantasies about having it done to them."

"And you don't?"

Veikko is silent for a moment. "No," he answered softly.

"Of course, you're being pressured to engage in something that you don't want to do. I guess this just goes to show that not all men are lust-fueled perverts."

Moans and groans catch their attention as those girls regain their consciousness. To Veikko's amazement many of them stand up, even though they are clearly in pain. And some of them have their limbs bending in places that are not suppose to bend.

"Oh fuck!" One girl screeched. "It's Ice Yagiyuuin!"

"Let's get out of here!" Another girl wailed.

Those who are still able to, run away squealing in terror, while the rest are forced to limp painfully away.

And so it comes to pass that Veikko wasn't accurate about the other girls staying away from the Student Council grounds because more of them come running in the hopes of catching any of its members who were not quick enough to get inside. They inevitably discover Veikko's presence and proclaim his good looks, then their various intentions to have sex with him.

But they also inevitably notice Yagiyuuin Hime with him.

" . . . No, that girl will slaughter you! Let's go find some weaker ones instead . . . !"

" . . . She'll kill us like she did the entire Kendo club . . . !"

" . . . When did she decide to protect him . . . ?"

" . . . Obviously she wants him . . . !"

" . . . Hey, blonde-kun! Careful you don't piss her off or she'll cut off your horse balls . . . !"

Veikko frowns at Hime with a furrowed brow as a sweat drop trickles down the side of his face. Hime looks back up at him without turning her head while wearing a faint smile. It is a smile that doesn't seem to touch her single eye.

The day seems to drag until the bell sounds at evening, signaling the end to the mayhem. Hime had stayed with Veikko the whole time. The sound of the doors behind them gets their attention. Groups of enforcers run out.

"I'll be leaving now," Hime said, then bows. "Good day to you, Ryynänen-san."

Veikko nods his head in return, then watches Hime walk away for a moment before turning his attention to the enforcers still filing out.

"Veikko-kun, are you all right?" One of the enforcers called out eagerly as she hurries up to him.

"Yes, I'm okay. That girl, Yagiyuuin Hime, stayed with me for a while. Of course, I also had help from Sasarano Sara beforehand."

"We know, we saw from inside," another enforcer called out.

"You were warned about this, Veikko-kun!" The first enforcer scolded him.

"I was unconscious," Veikko explained.

"Unconscious?"

"I don't know what happened. All I know is that I was walking through the trees one moment, then in the next moment I woke up on the ground with a bad ache in the back of my neck," as he rubs the back of his neck on a reflex for a moment. "I didn't even hear it, let alone see it coming. Maybe a tree branch fell on me or something."

Although he doubts his claim simply because there was no fallen tree branch anywhere near him. Someone had knocked him out. And he has his suspicions about whom that someone might be.

"Well at least you're okay," the first enforcer said.

Veikko watches them bully those badgeless who are still able-bodied to their feet to get working at cleaning up the place and carrying the injured to the infirmary.

"Veikko-kun," an enforcer next to him said in a reproachful tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he sighed as he walks up the stairwell to go back inside.

* * *

_Veikko-kun_.

He wakes up. Did he just dream that a girl was calling out to him in a soft sweet tone? He opens his eyes to see that his curtains are open, allowing the full moon to shine in and startle him as his eyes go wide while his irises shrink over seeing a girl standing next to the window with her back against the wall. The moon reflects the sun's light upon her to reveal her trademark eyepatch and ponytail . . . And nothing else upon her.

Hime smiles tenderly with lips slightly parted and a narrowing of her eye. Her eyepatch seems to enhance her exotic appearance. She reaches up with one of her hands to her ponytail and undoes it with a single yank, then shakes her head slightly to allow her hair to tumble to her waist. She seems even prettier now.

Veikko pulls his bed sheet closer as if to shield himself from her. His heart pounds away as he repeatedly gasps. His maleness is hard and engorged from the rush of desire flowing through him. Along with shame over the desire he is now feeling.

Hime walks up to him and sits on the bed. Veikko can feel the warm firm yield of her buttock against his leg through the blanket, causing his heart to skip a beat. She reaches out and gently strokes his face. Veikko gasps with a warble from the overwhelming sensation. Hime shushes softly and tenderly as she draws her hand down his throat to his stomach, pulling his blanket down along the way. Between her touch and her shushing, her voice seems to melt through him.

"You have such tremendous willpower, Veikko-kun," she crooned respectfully. Her tone is so soft and soothing. "You accidentally land on an island full of pretty girls. With your handsomeness, many of them start desiring you. And even though your loins are starting to ache, you don't want to take advantage of us . . . But you suffer so much." Her tone is now sorrowful. "You suffer because you desire both pleasure and virtue, and you feel like you're being torn apart. There is more here to your sense of shame from the age differences or the unwanted pregnancies you might incur, isn't there? What is it you really fear about sex?"

Veikko is silent for a moment, then opens his mouth to speak.

"I . . . I fear . . . loss."

"Loss?"

"I . . . I will lose . . . my . . . my innocence."

Embarrassment overwhelms him and his thoughts rage.

_What a stupid thing to say! Innocence? Where did that come from? Are you a delicate little maiden?_

Hime slowly leans toward him, forcing Veikko to lie back. Her soft hair grazes his chest, intensifying the pleasure through him. He is now on his back with her face hovering several inches above his own face so that her side locks and bang ends up touching around his face. She shushes long and soft. The shushing she is making; the hot air she blows against his face; the texture of her hair around his face; and the warm firm yet yielding sensation of her body. All of it gnaws on his will.

"I feel so bad for you, Veikko-kun," she whispered so tenderly. "Let me take care of you."

Hime suddenly moves her hand underneath his blanket, causing a jolt of pleasure to blast through him. Veikko's eyes widen and are solid white as he makes a sobbing gasp. His mind is so fuzzy. His will is so close to crumbling.

"All you have to do is simply say no," she cooed. "Just say, leave me alone. Three simple words . . . And I will do so."

Veikko stares up at her serene-looking face. His eyes are squinted and his mouth is slightly open from the internal storm of shame and lust. He feels himself drowning in pleasure, having it inflaming his swollen member. His shame keeps screaming at him; only as a scream being yanked ever further into the distance. The silence is long.

"Silence is agreement," she whispered as she raises her hand to his face once again to gently clasp it.

She kisses him, gently sucking his lips and parts them with the tip of her warm soft wet tongue. The pleasure roars through him and he eagerly returns her kiss, then forces himself to slow. Hime caresses the rest of his face and works on his neck with gentle sucks and nibbles. Veikko's secondary weak spot, making him moan in a soft high warbling manner as he shudders.

She gradually works her way down his chest, caressing his nipples, and to his stomach. Veikko is trapped in the vice of pleasure.

Hime next goes to work on his-

Veikko awakens with a throaty gasp. Shame overwhelms him, along with the strange feeling of an afterglow. It is still nighttime and the curtains are still closed. He groans softly and helplessly, then sighs loudly causing the weariness to settle over him. This place is affecting him. With exotic girls all around him and him handsome enough to entice them, he feels as if he is losing himself.

But of all the girls he could've dreamed of, he had to dream of her? What was it those girls had called her . . . ? Ice Yagiyuuin . . . ? And these were the same girls who would've mauled him without hesitation. Instead they took one look at Hime, who was standing alongside him with her wooden sword, and screamed. They ran as if their lives depended on it.

Such a deadly girl.

"_Perkele!_" He suddenly cursed after discovering why he is feeling an afterglow. And he thought he was too old for this sort of thing to happen anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day in school Kumi reflects upon Sachiko not coming down to her room yesterday, wondering if she had made her angry. She thinks about going to find her when her thoughts are interrupted by Hime, who informs her that the next class will be held with the Wind Class. It is a tea ceremony class and everyone is dressed in a kimono. It is in this class that Kumi meets up with Sara once again, this time made pretty in her kimono. Sara tries to inquire if Kumi knew who that girl from yesterday was, but Kumi is evasive in not wanting her to find out.

Hime admonishes them to be quiet and they get to their instructions in tea preparation. With Kumi, Hime, and Sara grouped together. Kumi makes the tea and Hime takes a sip. As quickly and as casually as she can, Hime slips a powder into it and passes it onto Sara, who gulps it down, much to Hime's subtle delight. Hime next gets up claiming not to feel well and hurries out of the room. Sara makes a snide comment about her, before coming down with a horrible stomach cramp that forces her to run out of the class to the washroom, leaving Kumi bewildered.

After her forced purging, Sara wonders where that pain came from then washes her hands. She is given a handkerchief by Hime, who in turn introduces herself and explains that Sara must have had the same problem too. She then goes on to simply say to Sara that she had better watch herself around that Amasu girl, then leaves. Sara wonders if Kumi had caused her sudden toilet attack.

With classes at an end, Mineko is running along as she drags Kumi along by her hand because they were slow in changing and are now late getting to the cafeteria. A group of girls comes walking around a corner and Mineko runs into one of them, causing both her and the girl to fall. Upon recovering, Mineko yells at them, demanding an apology.

Due to Mineko's arrogance and big mouth, she threatens them with the wrath of Burai Sachiko. One of the girls ends up calling out to another girl named Sara, asking her if she heard that, who in turn answers that she did and steps out to be none other than Sasarano Sara.

Sara demands an explanation from Kumi, who in turn tries to explain that it was all a misunderstanding. But Mineko still wouldn't shut up. Sara silences them, saying that it's irrelevant because Kumi had lied to her as she walks past them, her two associates following behind. Kumi tries to explain that she didn't want them to fight. With Sara rebuffing that Kumi figures that she cannot beat Sachiko, and next demands that she bring Burai Sachiko to the top of the Art Building.

"What if," Kumi next asked innocently, "I don't bring her?"

"My debt to you is already paid," Sara replied grimly as she stopped for a moment. "The next time we meet . . . I won't hold back," she begins walking away once again, "crush you guys and take your badge."

Upon hearing this grim news, Kumi is at a loss over what to do. But Mineko, still unaware of the situation, dismisses the threat. That is until she has it explained to her.

In the meantime, Sachiko is sitting on what little of the shoreline there is to the island, reflecting back to when she first came here. Three girls had asked if she could be their friend and agreed. But when that dreaded after school bell rang, Sachiko was horrified to discover that they only wanted her badge as they held her down and took it off her. Upon begging for it back, they only laughed at her and told her that she was to obey and work for them from now on. Rage filled Sachiko and she demolished those girls and got her badge back.

She stops her reflection and notices a figure standing in the water. It is Towa. No, it is either a hallucination or her ghost. Sachiko runs out and calls to her, but the image of Towa shakes her head sadly and points past her. Sachiko looks to see a weeping figure of Kumi and now knows what she must do.

* * *

Veikko is walking past a window. It is overcast and those clouds look to be promising rain. He thinks back to when he had to swallow his pride with the girls.

"_I . . . I n-need to change my . . . my bedding," he stammered to one of the enforcers. "And have my underwear laundered."_

"_Why?" One of them asked._

_But he didn't answer as his face turned beet red and looked off to one side._

"_Did you pee the bed?" Another enforcer asked deviously._

"_No, no I didn't," he quickly replied._

"_Crap?"_

"_No."_

_That is when their expressions had lit up with glee._

"_So you finally couldn't take it anymore!" Another enforcer exclaimed, much to the amusement of the others._

"_I was asleep," Veikko said grimly._

"_Eh? I thought a man was too old to have one of those!"_

"_So did I."_

The worst part of it all was when he gave over his underwear to wash. Not only was he forced to go commando for a time, his underwear got passed around with much amusement before they got around to having it washed. His underwear was dried and returned and he now wears them. Now, if only they could stop trying to cajole him into admitting whom he had dreamed of.

He does a double take at the sight of two girls on a building rooftop. One of them looks very familiar.

_Is that Amasu Kumi?_ He notes to himself. Given that they are not close enough for him to see their faces clearly, he can only assume.

He continues watching as the other girl, must be the one who was with her the day he first met her, speaking to Kumi. Though giving her intense body language, it must be an argument. He continues watching them.

Veikko gasps over witnessing that girl bash Kumi over the back of her head with her encased arm. Kumi does not get back up and he worries that she has been killed. That other girl turns her over and he can make out that she is removing her badge.

_That little bitch!_

That girl stands once again as she looks down at Kumi. A girl suddenly lands behind her as if she had just flown from somewhere else. Veikko knows who she is without having to see her face clearly, due to her hair.

_Burai Sachiko!_

Veikko watches Sachiko rush over to the fallen girl without regard for the other girl, who gets knocked aside like a rag doll. He no longer doubts that the fallen girl is Amasu Kumi. He smiles, hoping that Sachiko thrashes that girl and gets her badge back. But instead that girl starts waving her arms around, even pointing at her cast too. She then points off toward somewhere else.

Sachiko leaps from the building, seemingly flying through the air. Veikko follows the direction of her leap, but she ends up going out of view and hurries toward where he last saw her fly. Taking a moment first to look and see that other girl leaving Kumi alone. He finally reaches another window and looks through it to see Sachiko fighting a familiar girl atop of a building.

_So she's fighting Sara again._ Noting that the other girl is bigger and wearing that duster coat.

He watches the battle go back and forth, amazed that both girls are able to exchange blows like that. Raindrops begin splattering against the window, increasing by the second. That is when Sara steps on Sachiko's chain and gives her a vicious kick to the face. Sara next pummels Sachiko with a flurry of punches, then finishes her off with a haymaker that knocks her down and unable to get back up.

"_Perkele_," Veikko cursed under his breath.

He leans closer to the window in the effort to see past the rain that is starting to distort the view through the glass. He is able to see Sara gloat for a bit, then walk over to Sachiko and hoist her up onto her knees by the hair of her head.

The rain now obscures his view and he leaves. It is as he is approaching a corner when he hears a conversation between two enforcers standing around the corner just out of sight.

"Are we to help collect Burai Sachiko as well?" one girl asked intently. "We must hurry to the others since they're leaving now."

"No, we're not part of the pickup crew," the other girl answered.

"How can they be so certain that everything is going to play out?"

"Because it was all anticipated. And everything that has happened between Burai Sachiko and Amasu Kumi has come to pass. They set them up to meet so that Burai-san can recover. That girl had been useless up until now."

"Won't she be dangerous?"

"No, not after Sasarano-san is done with her. And once Burai-san is brought under our control, Amasu Kumi won't be needed anymore."

Veikko feels a chill over that last remark and suddenly wants to do something. He must escape and tell Kumi what he had overheard. As luck should have it, he is right alongside a stairwell door and quickly opens it to leave. He steals a look off toward where those girls are standing and one of them peaks around the corner. But he plays it cool and just casually walks away, letting her believe that he is only going on his usual meandering throughout the building. He even casually saunters down the stairs to make it look as if he is really only going for a walk.

He is about to descend the next flight of stairs when his attention is suddenly brought back up to that door as it opens. That enforcer, along with her comrade, is there staring down at him.

"_Who was that?"_

"_That was Veikko-kun."_

"_You don't suppose he overheard us?"_

"_Maybe, but I don't think it matters."_

"_Let's just keep an eye on him anyway so he doesn't do something stupid."_

"Where are you going, Veikko-kun?" One of the girls asked.

"Just for a walk like I usually do," he answered casually.

"Then let us accompany you," the other girl said in an attempted warm manner.

But Veikko bolts down the flight of stairs.

* * *

Kumi regains consciousness to discover that her badge is missing, yet she is more concerned with seeing Sara. During this time, Mineko is trying to get past the brawling students because she doesn't want to have to fight them off and mentions about trying to be smart, only to be discovered by Sara's minions. Mineko tries to run away only to be stopped by the masked one who had thrown a bola at her legs. Mineko is knocked unconscious by the fall and ends up dropping Kumi's badge, which is quickly swiped by the masked girl.

Over at the Art Building, Sara stands over Sachiko and taunts her that she never had a friend. Sachiko reflects over how she had always been a clumsy girl and hurt others, how she had hurt Towa for not being there. Sara gloats over how easy it was to defeat her and that she can now enter the Student Council and drag their president out and see who is stronger. Sara's minions show up and tell her that they have Kumi's badge, only for the masked one to slip and drop it to where it bounces over to Sachiko, who manages to take it.

Kumi finds Mineko and wakes her up, then untangles the bola from around her legs. Mineko inadvertently blurts out that she lost the badge. Kumi marvels over her having a badge to begin with, and why she was unconscious to begin with. Mineko in a panic manages to cover up that it was stolen by that barbarian girl's underlings and that she was unconscious too, then tells Kumi that Sachiko went to fight Sara. Kumi runs off, reflecting on how she had been naive on trying to get along with both Sara and Sachiko and ended up hurting them both.

* * *

The two enforcers are still pursuing Veikko, but are not gaining on him. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

"Damn, how can he run so fast down these stairs?"

"It's his long legs!"

"What're we gonna do when we catch up to him?"

"Let's just go!"

Veikko continues bounding down the stairs, leaving those girls well behind. He finally reaches the ground floor and hurries out into the hallway just in time to see a squad of enforcers leaving out through the doors. He is bemused by their boldness over their confidence that they won't be attacked by the other students.

He sprints into action just as he hears the shouting of the girls chasing him. The security doors start to close. As fast as he can, he hurls himself side-on through the narrowing gap that is only seconds away from closing. The two girls that had been pursuing him finally burst out into the hallway, but they are too late as those doors finally close.

"Veikko-kun, what're you doing out here?" The enforcer closest to him exclaimed with concern, causing the rest of the enforcers to look and show surprise over his presence.

He instantly dashes to one side and whips his legs over the railing, then drops down to the ground below, stumbling in his fall. He gets back up and does a double take toward the front of the enforcers and immediately understands the reason for their confidence.

Yagiyuuin Hime. Unlike the other girls, she only scowls slightly at his surprise appearance.

Veikko turns and runs, leaving the enforcers staring after him and commenting with bewilderment.

" . . . Where's he going . . . ?"

" . . . Has he lost his mind . . . ?"

" . . . He's gonna get mauled . . . !"

"I think I know where he's going," Hime said.

Veikko finally locates the Art Building as he sees Sara standing up there. That is when he sees a familiar girl running toward it, as he can see by her headband. Kumi is too far away and the rain is making too much noise. She hurries inside the building.

That is when he looks up at Sara once again and watches as she picks up a bench as if it were a staff, then starts to batter Sachiko with it.

"Has she gone nuts!" Veikko gasped and hurries toward the building once again. He is almost at the entrance when he suddenly notices the bench flying over the side toward him and he runs off to one side. But the bench doesn't reach him and instead crashes through a window. He stands there and watches Sachiko now on the glass, but still moving. He watches her crawl down and reach for something and finally takes it. There she lies for the moment.

That is when he sees Kumi run into view and hurl herself over the railing and use some kind of rope for support. She grabs Sachiko's chain and calls out to her.

"Until now I wasn't thinking anything and just relying on you!" Kumi yelled at Sachiko in a regretful tone. "But that'll change now! Just like you protected me, I'll support you! I'm sure my sister didn't abandon you! There must be some kind of reason!"

Veikko grins, but it quickly fades as he sees Sara undoing that rope.

"Enough with the chitchat!" He heard her yell. "Don't get in the way!"

Kumi and Sachiko go sliding down the windows.

"Towa brought us together!" Kumi yelled to Sachiko. "These chains aren't binding you! They're the bond connecting us!"

The entire wall of windows gives way, causing Sachiko and Kumi to fall through.

"Sachiko!" Kumi screamed.

"_Perkele!_" Veikko shouted in horror and he dashes toward the entrance. He throws open the door and runs inside. There he finds Sachiko standing on the floor in a crouch with Kumi in her arms, obviously managing to catch her and land as such.

"I'm glad that you woke up, Burai-san," Kumi said with relief.

"Sachiko . . . Sachiko is fine."

Veikko is about to run over to them when Sara comes landing through the gaping opening behind Sachiko and Kumi.

"Damn!" Sara snarled as she strides toward them. "You're still breathing!" She winds up to deliver a right hook at Sachiko "You cockroach!"

But Sachiko is quick to dodge her punch, slap her palm right into Sara's face, and turn to walk away. It all happened so quickly that Veikko raises an eyebrow in bemusement. Sara is left looking stunned.

"What are you doing?" Sara exclaimed with outrage. "Are you mocking-" then suddenly collapses.

"S-Sasarano-san?" Kumi called out to her.

"Don't worry," Sachiko said. "I held back. In our first fight, she instantly looked over to you when you called out . . . She's not a bad guy, right?"

Kumi then hugs Sachiko. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "If I just had explained it properly! I'm sorry! I want to be with you longer. Look at the same things, laugh at the same things."

"It's okay," Sachiko answered softly. "This and this are connected," touching both her chest and Kumi's chest. "That's all that matters."

They hug, and Kumi cries into her. Veikko grins at the touching scene. He notices that the rain has stopped and the sun is coming out, and the birds flying over. He wonders where those birds came from at first, then turns serious and jogs up to them.

"Veikko-san, what're you doing here?" Kumi asked upon noticing him.

In that instance Sachiko's eyes go wide and her irises shrink as she shivers and grabs the collar around her neck. She tries to speak but can only make gagging sounds.

"What's wrong, Sachiko?" Kumi asked intently with worry.

Sachiko falls to her knees while still shivering, gagging, and gripping her collar. Veikko and Kumi kneel on either side along Sachiko.

"She's having a seizure," Veikko said with concern.

"Sachiko? Sachiko?" Kumi called. "Answer me, Sachiko!"

"Seems . . . the collar finally took effect."

Veikko and Kumi look to see an only too familiar girl kneel and pick up Kumi's badge that had been dropped during the fiasco.

"You are!" Kumi exclaimed.

"Geez . . . since she left the cell, it's been giving her shocks a normal human couldn't endure. Her resistance to pain is praiseworthy."

"Ice . . . Yagiyuuin!" Kumi finished.

Hime nods to one of the enforcers, who in turn directs some of the girls to go forward. One group surrounds Veikko and the other around Kumi, pushing them away from Sachiko. Another group hurries toward Sachiko and picks her up.

"Okay! Take her away!" That enforcer commanded.

"W-Wait!" Kumi pleaded. "Why are you doing this, Yagiyuuin-san?"

"Why?" Hime replied coolly. "From the beginning, it was the goal of the Student Council to get the great strength of Burai Sachiko under control. That's all. But when we caught her before, she became a mental cripple and was useless. That's why we tried to rehab her by letting her meet you. And that went well."

She next pays attention to Sara, who has revived and looks up at them. "After that we made our sacrificial pawn make her use up her power and timed our capture for when her collar takes effect."

Sara snarls at Hime defiantly.

"W-Wait," Kumi interjected. "Then, I-"

"Yes," Hime answered. "You too are nothing more than a sacrificial pawn, lured by the bait of your sister."


	9. Chapter 9

Kumi is stunned into silence.

"Kumi," Veikko said as he takes advantage of that silence, "I overheard two girls in the tower talking about this setup. So I escaped to warn you."

"And it was all in vain, Ryynänen-san," Hime said.

"And it was you who knocked me out yesterday," Veikko sneered slightly with a touch of defiance in his tone.

But Hime silently smirks back at him.

"I know it was you," Veikko continued with a smirk as well. "I always found it strange that you just happened to come waltzing along with that wooden sword of yours right after Kumi left with Sara."

He sighs while folding his arms and shaking his head slowly. "And to think that you came into my room last night wearing only your eyepatch and seduced me."

It was his attempt to take the tension out of the room and throw Hime off her game. But it was also out of spite to release his pent-up outrage from all this. It seems to work as Hime's smirk turns into a slight sneer, and her cheeks even redden. The enforcers glance back and forth between Veikko and Hime with bewilderment.

"Oh wait," Veikko said as if remembering something important, knowing that any of the enforcers present could mention that to her. "It was only a dream. But it seemed so real."

Hime sighs and gestures for the enforcers to take Sachiko away. The others also drag Kumi off as well. One of the enforcers clasps Veikko's arm to encourage him to leave.

"W-Wait!" Kumi cried. "Let me go. Don't take Sachiko away! Sachiko . . . ! Yagiyuuin-san!"

Her cry compels the enforcers to pause.

"Even if you have a grudge against me," Kumi continued, "that shouldn't affect Sachiko. Let Sachiko free!"

"Grudge?" Hime said with cool amusement as she pins Kumi's badge next to her own, then removes her glasses. "You sure are full of yourself."

She raises her free hand up to her face and pokes her forefinger behind her eyepatch.

"My goal is to gain badges," she continued, and digs out another badge.

Veikko is both amused and perturbed from Hime's cleverness in hiding a badge there and the fact that in order to hide a badge like that she must be missing an eye, along with the notion of hiding something in one's eye socket.

"And then," Hime concluded, "join the Student Council."

"Three . . . badges," Kumi gasped. "So you already had two before . . . "

"Okay, take her away!" One of the enforcers commanded at the group holding Burai Sachiko. The other group with Kumi takes this as their cue to drag Kumi off as well.

"S-Sachiko!" Kumi cried as she resists them. "Sachiko! Sachiko!"

Veikko looks back and forth between Sachiko and Kumi grimly.

"Come on, Veikko-kun," one of the enforcers admonished gently while tugging on his arm. "There's nothing more here for you to see."

* * *

_One month later_

Yagiyuuin Hime confidently walks along with an entourage of students behind her. They like the rest of the student body are now wearing vests instead of a blazer. The other students are quick to move out of her way and give her uneasy looks as they speak with tones of awe about her. This is due to the fact that she is displaying ten badges, five on either side.

But the biggest change of all is Kumi being a part of her entourage.

Veikko Ryynänen watches the students from high inside the tower. That ship should be showing up soon, at least according to the Student Council when he asked this morning. Of course, he once noted the helicopter pad, but was informed that it is easier for them to procure a ship than it is a helicopter. Then there are their claims of closed communications to insure strict isolation for the student body.

In the meantime, he keeps his mind and body busy, through reading and exercises. Mostly, he wrote down and recited Finnish words to avoid becoming too familiar with Japanese. He also manages to remain clean-shaven, since he was given the use of a razor and shaving cream. Whenever he went outside, he tended to look behind him in case Hime wanted to knock him out again. She never showed up again to him outside. Inside, he periodically encountered her.

He has since gotten used to the daily violent routine that took place after school. The troubling thing now is that the enforcers, along with the members of the Student Council, are starting to look more attractive to him. Against his better judgement he . . . relieves himself at night . . . using a towel and face cloth.

The enforcers have come to know what he does and start getting more assertive with him, despite the order from the Student Council to not harass him. They instead become more subtle about it through a caressing touch here or there, along with soft sweet words. Some, however, made masked comments involving sexuality with him. When the uniform change came, some would ask his advice on if their uniforms made them look cute.

"Hey there, Veikko-kun," an enforcer called mischievously as she briefly slapped his behind, startling him into paying attention to her and he sees that she is grinning. She is a girl he recognizes whose name is Junko and wears glasses.

"The students from the Art Class requested that they wish to draw you," she said.

"D-Draw me?" His tone suspicious.

"Don't worry, you won't be nude," she waved dismissively with a close-eyed smile, then makes a broad squinty smile. "Though I wish it were so."

A drop of sweat trickles down the side of Veikko's face as he blinks at her. He knows that he really doesn't have a choice.

He is led by four enforcers to the Art Class past gawking grinning students who happened to be around. Given that this is a school hour, most of the students are in their respective classes. The Art Class is in the building where he had witnessed Kumi and Sachiko being separated a month ago. Those windows have long since been fixed.

Once inside, he is greeted by the sight of grinning students, all eager to draw him. The only ones who are not grinning he recognizes as Hime and Kumi.

"Kya, he showed up," one of the other girls squealed softly to another girl.

"He's so gorgeous," the other whispered back. "I wish he'd pose nude!"

"I once saw him naked, meow," said a familiar girl alongside them as she points at her own face.

He is instructed to sit on a stool in front of the class and to give a casual pose.

"Something is missing," Hime suddenly announced.

"Something?" Kumi said from alongside her.

"Yes, another model."

There is a moment of silence as Hime stares at Kumi.

"Eh? Y-You want me to go up there with him?" Kumi exclaimed as she points at her own face.

"Is there a problem?" Hime glared at her.

"Um, no, no there isn't!" Kumi said with a close-eyed nervous smile while rubbing the back of her own head.

"Then take a stool up there with you and sit next to him."

Kumi does so.

"Long time no see, Kumi," Veikko quipped.

"That it is, Veikko-san."

Veikko and Kumi are instructed to sit with their backs to each other, yet touching. The students begin drawing them in earnest. Hime turns out to be an excellent artist, something that Mineko is quick to proclaim.

"Wow! So skilled, meow!"

"What do you want?" Hime grumbled as she looks to acknowledge Mineko.

"Nothing less from you! Not only are you capable at studying, but at drawing too, meow!"

"Really, thanks," Hime replied in a curt tone.

"She's sucking up like always," one of the students grumbled to another.

"Now she's after Yagiyuuin-san," the other grumbled in reply.

"But, meow, the female model is a bit . . . If you would be the female model, Yagiyuuin-san, it would be even more beautiful, meow!"

"You must be kidding," Hime said.

"No, no," Mineko said assuredly. "Don't be so reserved, meow."

Veikko shook his head slightly in disapproval over her fawning.

"Amesu-san is clearly prettier than me," Hime continued.

"Eh?" Kumi exclaimed.

Veikko raises an eyebrow with internal surprise. Even though low self-esteem can elicit such a comment, having ten badges makes him dismiss this notion. So it must be honesty because he might agree with her.

"You think so too," Hime suddenly announced. "Right, Ryynänen-san?"

Veikko takes a deep breath as a sweat drop trickles down the side of his face. He needs to be careful with this one. Teenagers, especially the girls, are prickly about their looks.

"The definition of pretty," he said carefully, "is to be attractive in a delicate manner . . . Therefore, you are right; Kumi is prettier than you."

"You see, Amasu-san."

"Th-Thanks, Veikko-san," Kumi said shyly with an unease smile while rubbing the back of her head.

"She's setting you up," Veikko whispered.

"I have an idea!" Hime suddenly announced. "Let's have all of you draw only Amesu-san! You don't mind, do you, Ryynänen-san?"

"Um . . . no," he said as he got up, then turned to get close to Kumi for a moment.

"I got a bad feeling about this," he quickly whispered before straightening.

"Draw her in their most beautiful form."

"Here it comes," Veikko said as if to steady himself.

"Can you please model for us nude?"

The whole class is stunned into silence, only to next break out into chuckling and smirking.

"Eh?" Kumi gasped. "Yagiyuuin-san, you must be joking?"

"You can't do it?" Hime glared.

Kumi finds herself feeling like a mouse under the glare of a one-eyed fox.

"Maybe you would feel more comfortable if Ryynänen-san left?" Hime asked as she eyes him.

"M-Maybe," Kumi said nervously with lowered head.

"H-Hey, is this for real?" Mineko asked.

"Also," Hime further added with a smirk, "if he were to see you nude, it might drive him over the edge."

"Don't do this to her," Veikko said to Hime in a quiet firm manner with a matching glare.

"Oh ho, so you're her knight in shining armor now?" Hime said snidely with a leer.

"You have all those badges," Veikko said dryly, "and yet you feel compelled to humiliate this poor innocent girl?"

Hime laughs in a casual mocking manner.

"Something funny?"

"Yes . . . You said, innocent . . . No one is innocent."

"That's because you can't conceive of it. Those who cannot conceive of innocence are not innocent. And besides, this place doesn't exactly encourage innocence now does it?"

"Then how long do you think you can hold onto your own innocence, Rynnänen-san?" Hime said with a leer. "In the time you've been here, you've been hit on countless times. And I do know for a fact that the enforcers have gotten bolder with you. How long before masturbating won't be enough to relieve your frequent erections anymore?"

Veikko reddens and the rest of the girls all squeal and sputter with wide-eyed glee as many of them clamp their hands over their mouths.

"Oh yes, it's all over the tower about the state your towels become," Hime continued to taunt. "Tell me. Back when you had that wet dream about me, how was I?"

The girls all around are trying to suppress their squeals as they clamp their hands over their mouths, and Veikko is cherry red. He feels like wanting to sink into the floor into the center of the Earth.

"Nothing to say, eh?" Hime said. "I bet that the enforcers will reach their limit with you. And risking the wrath of the Student Council, they will burst into your room and have their way with you. Or maybe they will include the Student Council as well?"

She leans forward. Her leer broadening even more. "But you know what . . . ? You won't put up a fight . . . You'll just lie there and take it."

Veikko is silent and sullen.

The bell signals the end of the class, causing Hime to chuckle as everyone gets up to leave.

"Too bad," Hime mused. "Let's have you model on another occasion, Amesu-san."

Veikko returns to the tower.

* * *

It is lunch time and Kumi is serving tea to Hime and her entourage. She spills a bowl onto the table, causing some of it to trickle onto Hime. There is outrage from the girls, save for Hime, who downplays it then asks for Kumi to wipe it off her leg. But when Kumi kneels, Hime pours a bowl of hot soup over her head, much to the shock of the other girls.

"Not in words, but in earnest actions lies beauty," Hime said. "Don't you agree, Amesu-san?"

Kumi forces herself to agree.

Afterwards, Kumi is outside washing her hair out under a tap and dressed in a tracksuit. Sasarano Sara walks up to her and pities her, but Kumi dismisses it. They talk and Kumi tells Sara that during the month she has been here, she noticed that everyone fights with the resolve to protect their own badges and to steal others to the point that they will sacrifice even their own dreams for it. She next says that she needs the resolve and sacrifice to oppose that, stating that she no longer cares what happens to her and to rescue Burai Sachiko instead of having to be rescued herself. Then grimly states that she is not a sacrificial pawn and walks away.

"What you say is right, but are you fine with that?" Sara said to herself with concern. "If they could see your current self . . . what would Sachiko . . . and your sister think . . . With that, you also will succumb to this school."

It is now after school, Hime and her entourage are standing in one of the hallways. She commands them to attack another group of girls. Behind her is Kumi, still in her tracksuit, who glares at Hime's badges, for her own is amongst them. Hime seems to become aware of Kumi's glare and tells her to not just stand there watching her, but to watch the surroundings instead, because she is her bodyguard; then slyly accuses her of wanting her own badges, which Kumi denies.

A door is suddenly kicked off a classroom directly behind Kumi and two girls jump out with the intention of attacking Hime. But Hime shoves Kumi toward them, simply stating that it is her turn to attack them. Kumi ends up getting punched out for her troubles. It was only a setup to enable Hime to get the upper hand upon her would-be attackers. She walks up to Kumi, who is still unconscious, and kneels down then strokes her face, expressing concern for her pretty face.

"But you know, Amesu-san," she continued to croon, "when I see something pretty or beautiful . . . I can't help myself but wanting to soil that beauty."

Back in the art room, the portrait that Hime had drawn of Kumi and Veikko together has a gash through Kumi's image.


	10. Chapter 10

It is after the cleanup and the badgeless are getting their meal bars, only one per person. Yet Mineko attempted to take two and got her hand wacked with a billy club by an enforcer.

As Mineko wallows in self-pity, she notices Kumi and tells her that she is weird for getting bad treatment from Hime while still managing to be serious about her work. She next asks Kumi what she had been doing from noticing the dirt on her uniform. To which, Kumi thanks her, annoying Mineko. Kumi ends the conversation by stating that she is tired and will see her in class tomorrow as she walks away, leaving Mineko wondering what it is that Kumi is doing exactly.

Back in her room, it is revealed why Kumi got her clothes dirty: she had been crawling around in the maintenance passages to get a sense of everything and everywhere. On her wall is a map of the island with all of the passages and various X's to indicate entrance doors.

"What's left is Burai Sachiko," she said.

* * *

Veikko is walking through a hallway. He passes two enforcers who predictably greet him with smiles.

"Hey, Veikko-kun," one of them said. A pretty girl named Motoko with long hair and a well-endowed chest. "You've been here for a month and I've got a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Does masturbating relieve you?" While making a broad shrunken iris grin, causing her comrade to giggle with the same expression and with a hand over her own mouth.

He reddens and sputters.

"It's okay," she assured him. "I do it too . . . And I think of you as I do it to myself." Adding that last part sultrily.

His sputtering and unease grow even more.

"Here's something for you to think about when you do it to yourself again," she crooned as she takes out her collapsible billy club.

She playfully licks the handle and sucks on it, making an overt pucker. In a flash, she lifts her skirt to flash her panties at him.

Veikko gasps and turns away quickly as his heart skips a beat. The duo squeals with laughter. He hurries away, almost running. That only too familiar hardness coming on. He hurries upward toward another floor. All the way up to the top floor where the members of the Student Council reside. Each door is flanked by a pair of girls standing on either side. In front of one door, he notices none other than Yagiyuuin Hime standing before one such door and carefully listens in.

"So," Hime ventured, "how's she doing?"

"Nothing to report," one enforcer answered.

"She's not willing to talk," the other answered.

"I . . . see," Hime said with a tone of disappointment, then turns away. He ducks out of sight and listens.

"I got all these badges," Hime said to herself with disappointment tinging her tone, "but my sister still won't accept me."

She rounds the corner and is startled by Veikko standing there, casually leaning up against a wall with folded arms.

"And here I thought you were just a greedy little brat," he said. "When really all along, you were only trying to impress your sister."

Hime furls her lip in annoyance as she makes a grumbling sigh.

"Then I'm glad that I cleared up any misconception that you may have had about me, Ryynänen-san," she said with mellow sarcasm, only to turn frosty once again. "Just don't patronize me with your pity."

"I'm only making an observation," Veikko said as he unfolds his arms and straightens. "And from what I just observed . . . your efforts didn't work."

Hime glares up at him, then walks past him.

"I don't know what kind of family you come from," Veikko ventured, "but my guess is that no matter how many badges you get, your sister won't change her mind. I'm starting to believe that it may have backfired, meaning that she probably sees you as a threat now. Why else would she continue refusing you?"

Hime stops and is silent for a moment.

"You're absolutely right," she said coldly, then turns to fix him with her iris now shrunk to a pinpoint. "You don't know what kind of family I come from!"

Over the past month whenever Veikko encountered her, he was always greeted with a blank expression from her, although her eye twinkling with cool bemusement toward him. That and the extra badge she had every time. When they first met, she seemed softer. Then she had knocked him out afterwards unseen for seemingly no apparent reason other than to amuse herself. Veikko chalked all that up to merely relieving her boredom.

He understands that she is seething beneath that stoic exterior of hers. If it not for her discipline, she would be having a screaming fit.

Hime storms away and Veikko continues watching her. He can't help but wonder what she will do about the situation now, given that theory he gave her. Knowing that this is a school period, he decides to go outside and ends up following after her. But only after she has used the elevator.

Once he is outside and on the steps, he bears witness to the following interaction between Kumi and Hime.

"Please tell me!" Kumi pleaded as she clasps hold of Hime's shoulder. "Where . . . Where is Sachiko? Is she alright?"

Hime turns and grabs hold of her wrist. Veikko begins descending the stairs.

"Amesu-san, you," she growled, "wouldn't shut up about asking me about your sister just a month ago, but now you're all about Sachiko . . . Well . . . I doubt your sister would be happy about this."

Veikko can hear the anger in Hime's tone. And could it be . . . jealously?

"Y-You got it wrong," Kumi protested. "Of course I have my sister in mind but right now Sachiko is-"

"That is just how shallow you are!" Hime snapped as her anger rises. So this is her limit, Veikko now understands.

"Yet you believe you're the only person with a sister," she continued to seethe at Kumi, "and that your sisterly love is bigger than anyone else's! And I don't like it how you go about boasting how your sister loved you!"

"I'm not really-" Kumi protested.

It is at that moment when Veikko grabs hold of Hime's wrist, causing her to let go and fix him with a dangerous glare of her one eye.

"You seem to have an annoying habit of showing up when you're not wanted, Ryynänen-san," Hime said dangerously.

"I was on my way out anyway," Veikko answered as he continues to hold her wrist. "That and you grabbing her made me concerned that you might do something foolish, so I simply wanted to remind you that this is a school hour."

"I'm touched," Hime sneered sarcastically. "Now let go of my hand."

Veikko simply opens his hand and she pulls it away,Veikko lowers his hand back to his side.

"Yagiyuuin-san, could it be," Kumi ventured, "you also have a sister?"

"She does," Veikko answered in her place. "And she is a member of the Student Council."

"Eh?" Kumi exclaimed. "R-Really?"

Hime is silent.

"Th-Then maybe," Kumi said excitedly as she clasped Hime's shoulders, "she can tell me about Towa and Sachiko?"

"I saw her trying to meet with her sister," Veikko said, "but the enforcers told her that she didn't want to see her . . . Do you think she will want to see you, Kumi?"

"I thought Finnish people minded their own business?" Hime stated coldly as she glares up at Veikko.

"What can I say?" Veikko shrugged slightly. "During my time here and from what I've been witnessing, it's hard to stay neutral."

"So that's why you've been collecting badges all along, Yagiyuuin-san," Kumi said tenderly yet triumphantly as she gets Hime's attention once again. "So that you can get your sister's approval."

"I'll answer your previous question in exchange!" Hime suddenly snapped at Kumi so as to change the subject. "But I'll only tell you one thing, so pick wisely . . . ! And promise to give up the other . . . ! It's either Burai Sachiko's whereabouts or information about your sister!"

"No way," Kumi gasped.

"To a certain extent I have heard stuff about her after she entered the Student Council," Hime continued more calmly. "I'll tell you all I know."

Then in a more contemptuous manner. "And since you're asking a favor of me, you need the right attitude. You follow me . . . ? Sachiko or Towa . . . Just one."

"Amesu! Don't take her seriously!" Sara suddenly announced as she clasped Hime's shoulder.

"Sasarano-san!" Kumi gasped.

"Sara," Veikko nodded respectfully.

"Veikko-kun," Sara nodded back with a grin, then turns serious as she turns her attention back to the pair of girls. "You were already deceived once. How can you believe her information now?"

"Oh my," Hime said slickly, "I never told any lies, you know. Actually, Amesu-san stayed quiet about Burai Sachiko to you."

Sara growls in reply.

"If you get it," Hime next said grimly with a glare, "get your hand off my shoulder already. Don't get cocky just because you got three badges."

"Then," Sara sneered as she lets go, "I'm looking forward to you saying the same stuff after school!"

Hime snickers with a vicious sneer. "Me too."

Sara turns to walk away. Veikko is about to leave as well, only to notice Kumi clasping hold of Sara's sleeve.

"It's okay, Sasarano-san," Kumi assured her.

Kumi next turns toward Hime. Her expression is a determined one.

"I just want the one answer to a single one!" Her tone matching her look.

Veikko wonders what she meant by that, then raises his eyebrows as he watches her go down on all fours and bows deeply before Hime. Her forehead touches the ground.

"Yagiyuuin-san," Kumi stated with her face still down. "Please . . . could you tell me where Sachiko is?"

Veikko glances over at Sara, who is also gaping down at Kumi. He glances back toward Hime to see what her reaction will be. He gasps upon witnessing Hime forcefully plant her foot onto the back of Kumi's head.

"There's still more, right?" Hime asked contemptuously.

"Yes," Kumi answered unwaveringly. "I won't ever ask about Towa again."

"A-Amesu," Sara gasped.

"Perkele," Veikko cursed.

Hime chuckles. "That's the attitude," she sneered triumphantly. "Good. Okay, I'll tell you. Burai Sachiko is being held captured underground here!" She thumbs at the tower. "Though I don't know what they are doing to her"

"She is?" Veikko gasped as he stares back at the tower. "And I never knew about it? Although it does explain the recently beefed up security down near the basement."

Hime starts laughing, causing Veikko to wince because he finds it so odd for her to do so.

"I knew that your feelings for your sister were that shallow," Hime gloated. "Your half-assed resolve that makes you bow before me. Don't you dare to use the word, sister, in front of me ever again!"

She removes her foot from Kumi's head and walks away. For a moment Kumi keeps that position. Sara and Veikko glance at each other with concerned looks. Finally, Kumi rises.

"Are you okay, Amesu-san?" Sara asked with concern.

"Your forehead's bleeding," Veikko noted empathetically.

"I'm okay," Kumi said assuredly. "What's important is I know Sachiko's whereabouts now!"

Her look is one of determination.

* * *

Down in the bowels of the Student Council Tower, within a soundproof cell, Burai Sachiko is chained up wearing only her underwear. She is constantly thrashing around and in pain from the shocks the collar is giving her. From a speaker, a voice is asking her who her enemy is. Whenever she is not forthcoming, the voice tells her that Amesu Towa is her enemy because she was betrayed by her.

Every denial from Sachiko causes a shock until she admits it so.

* * *

The after school bell rings, signaling the beginning of the battle royale. Hime is told that Kumi went missing during class. She wonders if Kumi ran away due to the shock from earlier. Then remembers the look that Kumi had in her eyes. It wasn't fear . . . It was determination.

Hime immediately runs off, telling the girls she has some business to take care of and that she leaves the rest to them.

As for Kumi, she is down in the cells once again and kneeling over a maintenance grating as she takes a hair clip out and picks the padlock on it. She notes that the reason Sachiko was never captured was because she could move around without people knowing about the secret passages she knew. Something Kumi herself had been studying over the past month to familiarize herself in order to rescue Sachiko.

She suddenly hears footsteps and fears that she cannot be captured now. Only to discover that it is Mineko, who demands to be let in on what she is doing. Kumi tells her that she is rescuing Burai Sachiko by use of the maintenance shafts. At first, Mineko is outraged over her foolishness of getting caught, then decides to use this to her advantage to get revenge on the arrogant Student Council. Then in turn surmises that if they were to get caught, she could just blame Kumi for all this. Finally, she asks to be let in.

"Aren't you scared by yourself, meow?" Mineko asked with phony concern.

"W-Well, yeah," Kumi admitted. "But you aren't really reliable."

* * *

As all that was going on, Hime marched right up to Kumi's dorm room, taking note that her knowing where Burai Sachiko is and her disappearance is a strange coincidence. She at first dismisses this due to the Student Council's perfect security system, but still cannot wonder what Kumi is up to. She pounds on Kumi's door, only to discover that she is not there upon gaining entrance.

She notices a pile of papers covering a section of the wall and is immediately suspicious of it as she tears some of them away to reveal a map of the island. Not just a map, but a map of the passages. She returns to the school to be confronted by a group of students intent on taking her badges. Hime ends up proving that she is deadly in unarmed combat.

Hime reaches a locker as she mutters about Kumi deceiving her. She tears the door off to reveal a samurai sword. She takes hold of the sword and faces another group of girls.

"I'll stop your laughable plot!" Hime snarled with a murderous glint in her eye as she slowly starts pulling the sword out of its sheathe. "I'll make you regret your stupidity of opposing me . . . ! I'll fucking kill you!" Ending with a shriek.


End file.
